


A Case of the Supernatural

by Twinkletalon



Category: AI: The Somnium Files (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Gen, Murder Mystery, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Resolution Route, Spoilers, Supernatural Elements, basically everyone except for Date is non-human, it's a retelling of the game guys, oh boy this will be a long ride so you better buckle up, we've progressed from slight changes to full blown au teritory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:15:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 48,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22038403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twinkletalon/pseuds/Twinkletalon
Summary: Date Kaname is one of the only humans he knows. Working at an organization made to solve supernatural crimes led to that sort of life. But when everyone around him seems to be in danger, there's no telling what kind of supernatural creature is trying to kill him and everyone that he loves.A retelling of the Resolution Route/Pink Route of the game, but this time with more monsters running around.
Comments: 57
Kudos: 55





	1. The Murder of Shoko Nadami

**Friday. 10:54 PM.**

The ever present sound of rain masked all the sounds in the abandoned theme park. Police investigators were scattered all over the place, coming and going in spite of the constant downpour. Everyone was either wearing protective rain gear or safely hidden under the guise of an umbrella. It normally wasn’t his job to investigate murders, but apparently this one was an exception. Date sighed, and shifted the weight of the umbrella in his hands as he turned towards Boss. She stood in her usual red jacket and hoodie, seemingly not caring about how cold she might get with the short skirt that she was wearing. It must come with the territory of being a demon, he supposed. 

“So,” he said to Boss. “What am I doing here exactly?”

She looked like she wanted to roll her eyes, but just barely stopped herself from doing it. “Are you serious? As a member of ABIS you answer directly to me. I called you here to inspect the scene, Date.”

“Sure Boss, but inspecting dead bodies usually isn’t a part of the job.” He quickly checked that they were out of earshot of any of the lingering investigators. “We don’t usually deal with spirits at ABIS.” 

“Usually no, but tonight it is.” Boss paused. “Victim’s name is Nadami, Shoko. You...knew her right?”

“We were just acquaintances.” Date muttered. 

Boss turned to talk with one of the approaching police officers, one of the regular ones from the MPD he assumed, and Date took the hint to go investigate the scene. He took the crime scene in, not letting the sound and smell of rain distract him from the investigation. They were in an abandoned amusement park, and the body was strung up onto one of the horses on the carousel in the middle of the park. He had to assume that the horses stabbed onto spikes in the nearby grass were there before the crime, but it was too creepy to outright ignore. Everything about this place screamed ‘creepy’ in his opinion though. This park hadn’t seen any sort of human interaction aside from teens trying to sneak in for years, which made the fact that the crime was committed here all that more strange. _Aiba,_ he thought, _can you zoom in on Sho—the corpse?_

_Of course, Date._ A voice resounded in his head. Almost unnaturally, Date felt the vision of his left eye zoom in onto Shoko’s corpse. Of her usually pristine dress splattered with blood. He has to stop himself from immediately closing his eyes. They may not have been close, but to see her like this? The image would be forever seared into his brain, but now he has to do his job. _You can do this, Special Agent Date._ Aiba told him with a teasing tone of voice, but he knew that underneath that facade that the AI did actually care about him. There were multiple puncture wounds in her torso, likely the cause of death, and her left eyeball had been removed (he remembered Boss saying something about a case from six years ago—). Time of death was approximately five o clock pm. 

_Aiba, can you see any leftover magic use?_ He asked. While not only being able to enhance his vision, Aiba was able to see x-ray, thermo, and in this case, she could also see if anyone has used magic recently. It may not be immediately obvious to an outside observer, but when it comes to unusual cases like this it wasn’t uncommon to see some sort of magical influence. There would be no reason for Boss to call him if she didn’t think that there was some supernatural creature running around. 

_I can detect no unique residual magical signatures. However—_

_What, Aiba?_ He asked. 

_It’s nothing Date, but I can tell that this area is saturated with magical influence. Nothing stands out to me as immediately obvious, but that’s only because of how much pure essence there is._

_Well, that doesn’t bode well._ Guess they would just have to ignore it for now. There was nothing they could do without more in depth magic detectors, because as advanced as Aiba was, she wasn’t the best when it came to the more mystical aspects of their job. 

_Hey! I heard that you know!_ Aiba yelled in his ears. Date winced, and tried to ignore how the closest investigator looked at him funny. 

He was just about to begin searching for clues more thoroughly when suddenly, a large banging sound rang out across the crime scene. 

_What was that?_ He thought. 

_Sonic analysis indicates that the sound originated from inside the merry-go-round’s central column._ Aiba helpfully responded. 

_Aiba, use x-ray mode!_ Date urged her. 

Turning his head to the middle of the merry-go-round, he felt his vision change from seeing colors to seeing through them. It didn’t take him more than a second to realize that there was a slumped figure sitting inside the ride’s main column. 

He dropped the umbrella that he was holding and ran towards the column, ignoring the investigator's yells to stop, something about not being able to get any footprints in all this rain. Date slammed his fist on the metal, but there was no response. 

“Hey, I know you’re in there! If you can hear me, say something!” He asked. Spying a handle, he tried to open up the door to no avail. Damn, it was probably locked from the inside. Not wanting to waste any more time, he pulled out his gun and warned the person in the column before shooting the lock straight off of the handle. He pulled open the door to find no one else but…

“Mizuki!?” He cried. The young blue haired girl in front of him was holding a bloody ice pick in her hands. 

Well, at this point it wouldn’t be entirely correct to call her a young girl. Behind Mizuki’s back he could see the outline of a pair of large blue draconic wings, two spiked horns on her head, and a tail that circled her legs protectively. At his entrance, Date saw her snarl at him, not realizing who exactly he was and perceiving him as a threat. Mizuki’s usually bright gray eyes were now a vibrant blue and faintly glowed in the darkness. Their inhuman slits told him all he needed to know about her mental state right now. 

He called out to Boss, “We’ve got a code red over here! Secure the area!” 

Effectively distracting her from her previous conversation, the brown haired demon started flashing her badge to all the remaining officers on the scene to get them to leave (which from what he could hear behind him, they were all happy to get out of the rain). That is, all the officers not affiliated with ABIS. In a matter of moments, Date was left completely alone with the young dragon shifter. 

“Mizuki, please.” He calmly said to her, slowly lowering himself down to her level. “It’s me, Date. I’m here Mizuki, so can you please drop the ice pick?” 

He saw her ears twitch at his words, and her shoulders drop slightly. Ok, this was working. _Date,_ Aiba said. _Her partial transformation indicates an unconscious and likely strong emotional reaction. When provoked, those with draconic blood can cause serious damage to both themselves and those around them. I advise that you heed with caution._

_No shit Aiba._ Thankfully, he had the forethought to say that inside his head and not in front of Mizuki. 

“Hey, can you talk to me Mizuki?” He tried. All he got from her was a small whine which echoed in the metal column. She seemed to finally lock eyes with Date, and dropped the ice pick in shock. 

Still not responding verbally, she slowly looked at her exposed wings and claws before promptly passing out. He reached to grab her right before she hit the floor. 

“Whew, close call.” He whispered. 

“We’ll get her to the specialist doctors at HQ.” A familiar voice spoke behind him. 

“Gah!” He totally didn’t scream out in fright. _Don’t say a word Aiba._ “Warn me next time you decide to lean over my shoulder like that.” 

“Sorry,” She said, not sounding apologetic at all. “It’s a demon thing.” 

“‘Demon thing’ my ass…You just like creeping up on people.” Boss didn’t say anything, just flashed her all too sharp canines at him.“But you’re not wrong. Let’s get her to HQ.” 

Kaname Date is a Special Agent investigator working for the little known sub-organization inside the Metropolitan Police Department called ABIS, or the Advanced Brain Investigation Squad. Officially, they worked to develop advanced neuroscience tech and help solve crimes with their professionally trained agents. And sure, that job gets done. But the reality is much different that what’s written down in the public record. 

Unofficially, ABIS is the only active police investigation squad equipped to deal with supernatural crimes. From a fairy getting caught stealing from a bank using magic, to a werewolf getting a little too feral after a full moon, ABIS was there to clean up the mess that any supernatural creature left behind and make up a believable cover story for the general population to continue believing that the supernatural didn’t exist. It was a psyncer’s job to go into a subject’s mind and investigate their memories for traces of what might have happened in their presence. And if along the way they also happened to forget that they saw a vampire? No one was the wiser. Date himself was a unique exception to the rule. He was a human who knew about the masquerade, but he also had Aiba. So who was he to point fingers at who should be considered human and non-human?

_If anything Aiba, having you would make me an android._ Date thought to himself. 

_Oh please. If anything you would be a cyborg, and a terribly incompetent one at that._ Aiba responded. 

Aiba, short for AI-Ball, was an artificially created eyeball who has been acting as Date’s crime solving partner for the past five years. It was essentially like having a supercomputer directly connected to his brain. _All the wasted potential._ Aiba said wistfully. 

Date was going to refute her claim, but then he realized that the next exit on the highway was where he needed to go. He was taking Mizuki to the ABIS Headquarters to get checked out by actual doctors. Unfortunately, the wings and tail made it impossible to just drop her off at a regular hospital, so luckily Boss could get her set up in a room when they got there. Mizuki was his...roommate. For lack of a better word. In every way except legally, he was her guardian. But as a young preteen, and especially a young preteen dragon shifter, she was a lot to handle. But anything was better than the way that she was treated by Renju and Sho—

God, was he going to have to tell Renju about this? Should he be the one to tell him? 

It hadn’t really hit him until that moment. Not when he got the call to the scene, not when Boss told him who the victim was, and not when he saw her corpse with his own damn eyes! Shoko was dead. She was dead and Mizuki must have seen something. At the very least she knew that her mom was dead and at worst—

_Date!_ Aiba yelled out in his head. _Your heart rate is reaching unstable levels! Focus on getting to HQ._

He took a deep breath to steady his breathing, and loosened his tight grip on the wheel. _Thanks Aiba._

_No problem Date. But please be more aware of your surroundings._ He could almost imagine her crossing her arms at him. 

Before long, Date found himself seated in a hospital room three floors underground. They tried to make it appear like a ‘normal’ hospital room what with the sterile white walls and TV monitor hanging in the far corner of the room. But nothing could really hide the lack of windows and transparent magical barrier surrounding the hospital bed. It pained him to see Mizuki trapped like this, yet from what little they could go on, she was at the scene of a murder with what they assume to be the murder weapon in her hands. It was damning evidence. At this point she was a suspect, and all Date could do was wait for her to wake up. Now, her wings and tail were relaxed, but he knew just how hard they could hit from training with her at the shrine. 

_There’s nothing we can do now Date._ Aiba softly said. _It would be beneficial to use the remaining hours before you have to go into the office tomorrow to sleep._

He checked the clock on the wall across from him. _It’s past midnight, what use is there in going to bed now?_

_I could list out the various health benefits. Improved coordination, decrease in risk for heart attacks, reduced stress levels—_

_Okay, okay! I get it Aiba!_

_I rest my case._ She said, probably with a smirk on her nonexistent face. He didn’t think he would be able to sleep in his apartment without Mizuki there, so he made himself comfortable in the hospital chair that he was already sitting in. It wasn’t until he closed his eyes that he realized just how tired he was. As much as he hated to admit it, Aiba was probably right about needing to get some sleep. 

“‘Night Aiba, night Mizuki…” He whispered. 

_Goodnight Date._

Mizuki, as expected, didn’t respond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, as terribly cliche as this game is, I'm also in love with it's story and characters!!! It's sad that this game didn't get as much attention as some of Kotaro's other games (especially in the West)


	2. An Unlikely Scapegoat

**Saturday, 9:21 AM.**

The MPD headquarters was always a sight to behold, even if Date never usually took the time to admire his surroundings. The glass walls let in light no matter the time of day and people were always running around trying to organize the chaotic life that was being a police investigator. 

After finally having the nerve to leave Mizuki’s hospital room, he decided to go out for a bite to eat at a nearby cafe. He stayed there for an hour or two, and by the time he got back he was able to put the confusing dream he had behind him (he was in a somnium, but he didn’t know whose it was. Aiba thought it was his own, but how would he be able to travel into his own somnium during a dream?). 

Instead of taking any more time to look at the scenery Date made a beeline to the elevators, avoiding any eye contact with the people in the packed entryway. He held his access card up to the switch and the elevator seamlessly opened up. He stepped in and quickly closed the door behind him. Once he made the mistake of letting someone else on and he ended up on the tenth floor before he knew it, entirely in the opposite direction that he needed to go. 

But all of that hustle and bustle of the main floor changed the moment you went to the basement of the building. Gone were the preppy receptionists and overworked interns, because everywhere in the underground portion of the building you were met with absolute silence. Long corridors of gray concrete and fluorescent lights as far as the eye could see. ABIS worked in the shadows, so they must have thought it fitting to station the investigation squad in the lowest floors possible. It was a draining work environment to say the least. So Date took his time avoiding having to actually step into HQ as much as possible. 

The one exception to that monochromatic color scheme was Boss’ office. Her work environment consisted of larger than life tanuki statues and boy band posters hanging on the walls. Despite the room not being too large, she somehow managed to fit dozens of nicknacks on the walls, shelves, and even on the floor. It wasn’t what usually came to your mind when you think of the word ‘demon’, but somehow Date felt it fit her perfectly. 

In the relative secrecy of the ABIS offices, Boss must have felt comfortable enough to show off her more demonic attributes. As she sat on top of her desk, her forked tail idly tapped on her legs, and Date could barely make out red tinted horns poking out of her hair. 

“Good morning. I’ve been expecting you Date.” Boss said. 

“I see you still haven’t cleaned this place up.” He responds, sitting across from her at the padded black chair. 

“Where do you think you are agent?” She asks. 

He decided to humor her. “Metro Police building in Chiyoda District, Tokyo—”

Boss interrupts him. “Underground. Six stories underground. It’s _suffocating_ in here. So I try to liven it up a bit, like a party.” 

That makes sense on the surface, but then Date actually takes a second to think about it. “Shouldn’t a demon like you love the dark and dreary atmosphere? You know, being closer to hell and all.” 

“I have my ways Date. Plus if I decked out my office in what demons consider fun, then it would be covered in blood sacrifices and incense candles. Not the best for company wouldn’t you say?” He honestly couldn’t agree more, but he still didn’t approve of the Christmas tree in the corner of the office either. 

He decided to get what he came here for out of the way while he still had the nerve. “So, about Mizuki…”

“Interrogators say she hasn’t said a word since they’ve seen her. They say it’s likely due to her inability to shift back to a fully human form.” 

He nods. “But the doctors also say she’s traumatized. She’s seeing a specialist, or as much of a specialist as she can get considering the statute of secrecy and all.” 

“Were you with her this whole time?” Boss asks. My silence says enough. “You’re like her legal guardian then.”

“No,” He denies that notion entirely. “She just lives with me.”

Boss sighs. “In any case we’re not gonna get anything from her.” With Mizuki not being able to give any sort of testimony, the next best person would be…

“Have you picked up Renju yet?”

“He’s at a police station nearby, being interviewed. He’s not a suspect yet. Just standard procedure stuff.” That’s an improvement from yesterday at least. When he tried to call Renju from his personal phone yesterday, his old friend didn’t answer. Yes it was late, but Date assumed after the fifth call that Renju would know that something was wrong. 

“Are there _any_ leads in the investigation? What about the person who reported the screaming?” 

“All we know is that they called from a payphone.”

“Well, that’s odd.” Date almost thought that payphones were nonexistent at this point. 

“Whoever it was clearly didn't want us to know their identity. They may have even been the killer...” 

As though in response to what Boss just said, Date felt the unusual pressure of his left eyeball trying to escape from his eyelid. It jumped out of his eye socket with a soft ‘pop’ and landed on the ground. He would never get used to that. Soon, it was oozing a clear gel substance (he never got a clear answer from Pewter on what exactly it was) and had grown arms and legs. The small animal figure then hopped up onto the desk next to Boss. 

“Helloo~” Aiba said, Date now being able to hear her with his ears and not inside his own head. 

“No, not hello! I told you not to just pop out of nowhere like that!” He rubbed at where his left eye used to be. The human skull was definitely not built to let an eyeball jump out like that. 

“I do not understand your concern. Boss knows me by now.” Aiba said, entirely missing the point.

Boss winced. “Well, still…”

In this form, Aiba looked entirely different from how she appears in the somnium. Right now, she just sorta looks like a translucent teddy bear, with the rounded ears and all. 

“You know, you are kind of cute like that Aiba.”

“Aren’t I? I receive that compliment frequently.” She preened. 

Date switched tactics. “Your attitude isn’t though. But alright then, tell me why you suddenly came out like that?”

“I haven’t been getting a lot of exercise lately.” Aiba said. 

It was always hard to tell when she was joking without being able to see an actual face. “You’re joking right?”

Now with Aiba being an active part in the conversation, they started to talk more in depth about the investigation. 

“Okay, really now. What’s the real reason you came out?” 

Aiba sobered up (or as much as she could, considering that she was an AI). “There is something that I have to report to the Boss. I could have had the message relayed through Date, but that would have been less efficient.” 

“Aren’t you wasting time explaining that to us—”

“Please listen quietly. I have determined who reported the crime.” That’s right, they were talking about the report before Aiba decided to jump out of his head. “I found the location of the payphone that made the call. It was near Bloom Park, the scene of the crime. Thus, I decided to check the surveillance footage of any security cameras operative nearby. There was very little foot traffic, which was even less so at nine PM when the call was made. I analyzed the footage and was able to obtain a facial recognition match. The individual was registered in police record as a person of interest—” 

Date couldn’t wait any longer. “Oh my god who was it?”

“Matsushita, Ota. 24 years old. Male. Satyr.” Through his left eye Aiba was projecting the image of a young man in a baseball cap. His long jacket and baggy pants must have hid his goat legs, but Date had to assume that he was also registered with ABIS as a supernatural creature, considering that Aiba was so easily able to find him in the police register as a ‘person of interest’. She concluded, ”I have marked his address on the map. That is all.”

Boss looked like she was on the hunt for information, which of course usually meant one thing. “Date?”

“Way ahead of you Boss. Aiba, let’s go.” He held out his hand for Aiba to jump on. 

“Affirmative.”

Unfortunately, when Date and Aiba arrived at the Matsushita Diner, Ota was nowhere to be found. The old establishment was near Bloom Park, and due to the chemical accident years ago it didn’t see a lot of popularity. Even though all the lights were on, no one was inside apart from an old woman who was manning the counter. When he stepped into the building the wooden panels underneath the floorboard creaked, probably due to their age. 

By talking with the young man’s mother, they were able to figure out that Ota had been hanging out at an entertainment company to talk with who Ms. Matsushita called a ‘witch’. Date couldn’t help but think that it was a very biased (but not entirely incorrect) view of what idols were, yet after finding a delivery of a figurine of the idol A-Set it wasn't too hard to find out where their current suspect was hanging out. 

“It’s fitting that when we get sent on a wild goose chase that we end up at Lemniscate, huh.” Date said, mostly to himself. He could feel Aiba agree with him though, so he gave himself points for that. 

The entertainment company Lemniscate was a well known corporate producer of idols, and not much else. The owner Renju Okiura on the other hand, was what made their visit to the company all that more interesting. The Okiura family owned this corporation on top of many others. Date couldn’t help but be reminded of the many nights out that he’s had with Renju where his friend had drowned out his financial worries in cheap alcohol. 

_I should invite Renju out to a night of drinking, after what’s happened he’ll definitely need it._ He thought. 

_May I remind you Date, that you have to take care of Mizuki and by coming home intoxicated it may send a bad example to an impressionable child._ Aiba reminded me. 

_You say it like I don’t know that already! Besides, the goal would be to get Renju drunk, not me._

Date walked into the reception area of the Lemniscate building to see it pretty empty for the early afternoon lunch rush. It was a modern building, with shining concrete floors that he could see his own reflection in. The walls were decked out with various merchandise for the pop idols that the company managed, as well as vending machines filled to the brim with unhealthy snacks. 

He politely nodded to the receptionist (who he swore winked at him—) and made his way over to their suspect. He was sitting in the corner of the room, his back to the doors. _That him?_

_Correct._

“You Ota Matsushita?” Date said out loud once he got within hearing range of the couch he was sitting on. 

“Who are you?” The boy said, not denying that he was indeed Ota. 

He pulled out his badge, which didn’t say anywhere that he was from ABIS, and settled down in front of him. “I’m with the MPD.”

“T-the police…” Ota muttered. Considering how suspiciously he acted to that revelation, it seems like he knows why Date is here. Looking at him a bit closer, Date noticed that Ota’s legs were bent at the correct angle for a human, and not for a satyr. 

_Aiba, can you check to see if he has a veil activated?_

_As expected Date, he is currently wearing a veil to mask his supernatural form._ Veils were essentially like a virtual projection that masked the wearer from head to toe. ABIS, but mostly Pewter, designed it to let the supernatural run around in human society without being detected. Boss wore hers any time she was outside her office, and he had never seen Pewter take his veil off before. So, when Ota sat in front of him he appeared as though he was entirely human despite Date logically knowing otherwise. He decided to not drop that he knew about this one of Ota’s secrets, and asked him about what he was doing last night. 

“Don’t play dumb kid. Yesterday, 9 PM, you called the police from a payphone. You told them about screaming you heard from Bloom Park.” 

Ota very visibly rolled his eyes, that little punk—

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

Date sighed, “All right Ota. Look, either we do this here or I take you down to the station.” 

Ota glared at him, “Do you have a warrant?” _Wait, shit I knew I was forgetting something._ “Article 2-3 of the Execution of Law Enforcement Code: Unless initiated by legal process…” He continued on for another paragraph or two of legal nonsense, all talking about a citizen’s right to refuse to be detained. Yes, Date took the police entrance exams (even if he didn’t exactly remember them) so he knew all of those legal words meant that people wouldn’t get unfairly prosecuted. But god these are the types of kids that he hates the most. 

_That’s it. I’m going to punch him._

_Date wait!_ Aiba just barely stopped him from throwing hands with this kid. _I have an idea._

_Can I kick him then?_

_I told you to wait!_

_Waiting’s just pissing me off more!_

_Perhaps your dosage needs to be increased…_ What? _Listen to me Date! Ota’s PC is connected to the local WIFI. I was curious about it, so I hacked into it. He is currently engaging in a strawman sockpuppet with four separate To-Witter accounts, all in order to support Tessa, or the idol known as A-set._

_Wow this kid is pathetic._

“Hey kid!” he pushed again, and as he expected Ota took the bait. 

“What do you want now?” 

‘I’m going to tell A-set that you’re sockpuppeting for her on To-Witter.” 

“Eek!” Ota stuttered. Got him. “U-Uh, what are you talking about?”

“You should drop the attitude right about now.” 

“You shouldn’t make those kinds of accusations. Do you want to get sued for defamation?” Instead of actually responding to that vague threat, Date listed off all of Ota’s sub accounts that Aiba found. Ota glared off to the side, seemingly accepting that he’s lost this battle. 

“Now. I have some questions for you. Were you the one who reported the screaming at Bloom Park last night?” 

“Y-yes.” Ota finally admitted. But when prompted to continue, he didn’t say anything else. 

“You better tell me, or I’ll tell everyone about your imaginary enemies on social media.” Date threatened, actually intending to go through with the threat. He cleared his voice and spoke loudly, “Hey everyone! Uh, this guy—”

“Okay, okay! I’ll talk-just...I went to the park to meet with someone.” 

“So, who were you meeting?” he asked. 

“A girl named Mizuki Okiura.” Hey wait a second!

“What did you just say?” Date whispered, not without a subtle threat in his voice. Why would a 20 something year old be trying to meet with Mizuki of all people!?

“She’s the daughter of the president of Lemniscate.” Ota not-so-innocently asked, “Do you know her?” 

Date glared at the kid across from him. “Yeah! How do you know Mizuki!?” 

“She’s just a friend. Why do you care—” He calmly responded. 

“Yeah she better be!” Date was sure that Aiba would be facepalming if she actually had a body right now, but he couldn’t help it. If Mizuki was hanging out with strange guys then he had to so something about it! “Where and how did you two meet?” 

“Umm, here. The Lemniscate lobby. Mizuki is friends with Tessa. I was talking with Tessa one day and she just comes up like ‘hey!’.” 

“When was this?” He asked, possibly ignoring how a police investigation turned into an investigation into Mizuki’s friendships. 

“Last September, so I guess the relationship has lasted over a year now.”

“Don’t call it a ‘relationship’!” 

“Anyway,” Ota said. “I have her look over my light novels sometimes.” 

Date didn’t believe him. “Oh yeah. What’s your pen name?” 

Ota didn’t pause. “Odoin Kyoma.” 

_That is a lie._ Aiba chimed in. _Database searches reveal that there are no registered authors under that name._

“Hey Ota, how about you stop lying to me? My third eye can see through your bullshit.” Date meant that as a joke, but the sudden look of understanding in Ota’s eyes may have tipped him off more than he intended. Well, it’s not like he was trying to keep his connection to ABIS a secret, and there was no harm in Ota thinking that he was actually some sort of creature with the ability to see things humans couldn’t. 

“Uh well, I’m not a published author…I’m an aspiring author to be exact. She gives me notes and stuff on my work.” 

“You get notes from a sixth grader?” 

“She’s surprisingly insightful.” As much as Date wanted to refute that, Mzuki was actually pretty intelligent for her age. He’s gotten all that he needs out of Ota about Mizuki. When he gets home he should ask her about it...oh. It was a sharp reminder to himself that she still couldn’t speak. 

“Alright, instead of focusing on this, how about you provide me with a detailed account of last night?” 

So, according to Ota’s description of what happened last night, Mizuki got a NILE message about needing to go to Bloom Park and she called the young man for protection. 

“She sounded scared when she said that they told her to go to the merry-go-round at Bloom Park that night. She was determined to go.” Ota described how he went with Mizuki to the park, and about how he fled at the sight of Shoko’s corpse. About how he left her with her dead mom. 

“You left a twelve year old girl by herself?!” Date asked angrily. 

“I-I was panicking! People do stupid things when they’re in fight or flight mode!” 

With sarcasm dripping from his voice he said, “Jeez kid, you’re a real hero kid.” 

“Your reaction is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you!” 

“Do you think we wouldn’t have found out? Mizuki would have told us everything.” 

“Probably not. She said that if she ever got caught going out at night with someone like me… Her roommate would kill her.” 

_Good girl Mizuki._

Ota then described how he managed to drop his phone in his haste to call the police, and how it dropped straight into a puddle. Aiba traced the last known location of his phone’s GPS to right outside Bloom Park at around 9 PM, right about when Ota said he lost it. Just when Date was going to interrogate him further, a voice rang out in the lobby. 

“Hey, Ota! What are you doing?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and now we've introduced Ota finally!! This chapter is called unlikely scapegoat for a reason, get it cause Ota is a satyr?? I'll let myself out...
> 
> I wonder who the person who spoke last was (jk we all know who it's going to be lol). Thanks for anyone who decided to stick around after that pretty boring intro chapter!! Unfortunately, the next few chapters will be pretty one to one with the original game, but I promise it'll diverge more later on.
> 
> But something unique to this au are the veils!! Yeah, I'm going to ignore the logistics of actually keeping the supernatural secret (even though I do want to explore that concept, but not in this story) by using veils! So unless stated otherwise, assume that everyone looks like their canon human forms. 
> 
> p.s. I'll try to get new chapters up every week on Saturday!


	3. Making Waves

**Saturday, 11:45 AM.**

“Hey Ota! What are you doing?” A voice said from the front doors. 

“Tessa!” Ota half-yelled, probably relieved to finally not be answering all of Date’s questions alone. 

He looked over to the source of the voice to see the action figure he saw at Matsushita Diner in real life. So this is what fanboys must feel when they see their idols in person. The young teen idol A-set was standing in front of them, with bright pink hair, a letterman jacket, and a large set of cat eared… headphones? They weren’t covering her ears though. 

_Incorrect Date._ Aiba told him. _That is a mechanical device created by ABIS which functions both as a veil and as a magical suppression device._

_She must have some strong innate magical ability then._ Date thought. 

The young girl turned towards him and asked, “You are..?”

Before he could respond, Ota enthusiastically said it for him. “Mr. Date from the MPD. He came here to ask me about what happened last night.”

A-set’s (or Tessa he supposed) eyes brightened. “You mean...a detective?! Wow, I’ve never met a real detective before!”

It was a nice gesture, but the moment that the girl sat down next to Ota, Date’s head started pounding like there was no tomorrow. He just barely resisted the urge to curl up into a ball and block out the pain. Ah, the life of being an adult, full of taxes and suppressing your emotions in front of others. He just took a deep breath and tried to ignore it. 

(Why did her presence feel so familiar?)

_Date, your adrenaline level is rising. Is something the matter?_

_No, nothing…_

Aiba, being not even slightly close to convinced, thankfully decided to drop the question. 

“Gee Tessa.” Ota praised. “You always look so cute! So cute that I just can’t take it! Don’t you think so too Date?”

“You’re awfully familiar with her.” He would have thought for an idol fanboy that Ota would have never actually seen A-set in person before, but he’s been proven wrong before. 

“I can’t help it! Her loving aura is in the air. When I’m with her, I just relax and don’t sweat the small stuff anymore, y’know?” No, he really doesn’t know. 

“Aww, that’s so sweet Ota!” A-set responded with a light dust of red on her cheeks. 

_Aiba, are we sure that there’s no supernatural interference inhibiting Ota’s ability to think for himself?_

_I have detected no outside influences on Ota’s cognitive thought processes. Despite A-set’s registered status as a siren, her emotional magic has been restricted by the device on her head this whole time. She should be unable to use her voice in any sort of coercing manner._

_She’s a siren huh? So that explains the career in singing._

Okay back on track Date. “So, I’ve already talked with Ota about this, but did he tell you about last night?” 

“About Ota seeing the corpse at Bloom Park? He told me already.” A-set continued on despite Ota quietly whining in the background. “Actually, I knew long before Ota told me.” 

“How did you know? And why didn’t you tell the police?” Date asked.

“It’s all over the internet, I assumed that the police already knew about it. When I saw Ota this morning I asked him about it.” she responded. 

“What’s the relationship between you two anyway?” Date questions them. 

Ota gets stars in his eyes. “We’re like a goddess and a summoned thrall.” 

“You’re her thrall?” He almost snorts. If he hadn’t been required to study Norse myths after he got assigned to ABIS then he wouldn’t even know what a thrall was. 

_A thrall is defined as a servant or slave, specifically relating to how subservient classes were treated in Scandinavia during the Viking Ages._ Aiba adds on. 

“If Tessa ever gets in trouble, I swoop in and protect her!” Real hypocrite right there. 

But A-set just laughed. “You sound more like a superhero than a thrall.” She turned to Date. “Ota always defends me when I’m being bashed online.” There was definitely an opening there to point out just how effective her white knight is at actually defending her justice online, but judging by Ota’s panicked look he also realized it too. Date felt like being lenient today, after how much he’s already messed up Ota’s day. 

“And the two of you are both friends with Mizuki. How did you become friends with her?”

A-set pauses. “Mizuki Okiura? Yeah I am! Mr. Okiura runs the agency, and Mizuki is her daughter so...We hang out sometimes.” 

He vaguely wondered how often was ‘sometimes’. Despite him and Mizuki living under the same roof, Date hadn’t known about any of her friends. If he was being honest with himself, he didn’t know if she had any friends at all. She doesn’t talk about her personal life with him, and he’s stopped trying to ask about it after he was brushed off so many times when they first started living together. But that was years ago now. He doesn’t know much of anything about her, come to think of it. Date is totally in the dark. He needs to be a better stand in parent doesn’t he? It’s sorta sad that it’s taken him a traumatizing situation to realize the error of his ways. But as much as he needed to be there for Mizuki, clearing her conscious would also involve finding her mother’s murderer. It would also be more productive than just hovering over her like some helicopter parent or something. 

_Date. I have determined that these two have no further information for us. Our goal is to investigate the murder of Shoko Nadami. Let us continue._

_Right. Let’s head back to the crime scene._

He decided to say goodbye to the two young adults in front of him. “See you kids later.” 

“Umm, where are you going?” A-set asked. 

“Back to where the corpse was found.” 

The young girl perked up. “In that case, I’ll go with you!”...She’ll what?

“You’ll what?”

She clasped her hands together, “Pleeease take me with you! I want to know more about what happened. Do you have any suspects? Probably some crazy murderer right? The corpse was strung up on that merry-go-round! It must have been some sort of message…”

Date decided to ignore her mutterings. It’s not like he was open to inviting kids to come with him to crime scenes. He wouldn’t even let Mizuki near one of those if she asked...probably. He could never say no to her when she wanted something. He stood up to make his way out, but he only got a few feet past the receptionist desk when he suddenly hears a yell behind him.

“MR. DATE!” A-set yelled at him, which was all the warning he got before she was clinging to him like her life depended on it. Sheesh, he knew sirens liked physical affection but this?

“Please Mr. Date! You can’t leave me!” She started begging to him. God, she was crying too. Shit, why is she crying? _Aiba??_ “I can’t imagine life without you!” Okay now this was getting awkward. 

“What are you doing?” He plainly asked. Just as fast as she started crying into his jacket she turned around with none of the previous emotion in her expression. Right, she’s an actor. 

“Ota, did you get it?” Ota nodded and ran over to give the teen idol a pink phone. He had to assume that in the time that he wasn’t looking at them, he had taken a video of what just happened between him and A-set. _Wait, Aiba what was it that sirens were good at again?_

_They are historically recognized as being capable of flight, breathing underwater, and emotionally manipulating men into jumping into the ocean with their voices._

_Damn she’s good. She had me convinced that I was her long lost dad or something._

A-set looked like she was on top of the world, while Ota looked ready to murder him on the spot. “Something wrong?” Date didn’t miss the jealous look in his eyes. 

“No. I’m just imagining your body sinking into Tokyo Bay.”

“Heh, I’m used to “psyncing”. It’s part of the job.” 

Ota looks confused for a second, but A-set interrupts their conversation. “Speaking of your job Mr. Date, you are a member of the MPD right? A public servant?” She knows she’s right, and he wondered what she was doing dragging it out like this. “I wonder… What you happen if this little video happened to go viral?”

Crap, the phone. On the pink phone in A-set’s hands was likely a video of her jumping into Date’s arms and him standing there very confused. It certainly wasn’t a flattering video, but it wouldn’t do much damage to him if it were to be released. If anything, having a complicated family relationship would hurt an idol more than anything else. 

He could almost feel Aiba already trying to trace the impact that a video like this could have publicly, and how to stop it. _Hmm, Date I believe that with this video she is intending to imply that you are not in a familial relationship, but a romantic one._

_What?! Wait gross. Me in a relationship with her? She’s like fifteen isn’t she!?_

_She’s eighteen, but that’s exactly the point Date. It would create a scandal. Any media outlet would assume the worst with this sort of video, especially if she targeted aggressively invasive celebrity based news outlets. So that’s what she was going for huh. All to come with him to see a real crime scene._

“You wouldn’t.” Date said, not truly believing his own words. Initially he couldn’t imagine a girl like her planning out something that mischievous. Guess he’ll have to rethink his people reading skills. 

“Oh! And just so you know, taking my phone away won’t help. It’s already in the cloud.” A-set smirked at him. Damn her, and damn the convenience of modern technology. “If you take me to the scene of the crime I promise that I’ll delete the video.” 

_Date. A thought has occurred to me. She really is quite the seductress._

And before he knew it, he was in the car on the way to Bloom Park with a teen idol in the passenger seat. Aiba could have certainly tried to hack the girl’s phone and manually remove the video herself, but if Date was being honest this was the most interesting case he’s had in years (or, as far back as he could remember anyway). He didn’t think it would be too terrible if he invited someone who could have an insight into the case to the crime scene. 

_Date your excuse sounds bad even though I’m inside your head._

_Can it, Aiba. I just...think that I should be nice to her. For some reason, weird._

_I will never understand your thought processes._

_Neither will I._

They spoke about how the idol known as A-set came to be, and how the girl’s mother was apparently a close friend of Renju’s. That meant another aspect of Date’s life that he was unaware of something that he probably should have known already. He thought his memory problems were gone six years ago, but now he was starting to doubt even that thought. 

“So, I’ve been drilling you kids with questions. How about you ask me one?” He carefully eyed A-set with his left eye, but kept his actual eye on the road as he drove. 

She thought for a second, but then had an ah-ha moment. “What’s it like being a detective?”

“I wouldn’t know much about that.” He responded. “I’m not a detective.” 

She looked confused. “Huh? Buuut...you are a cop, right?”

“Right. But I’m not on the crimes unit.” He was oversharing a bit here, but he’d try to guide her slowly into realizing that he was with ABIS. And by extension, that he knew about the fact that she was a siren. He knew that Aiba wasn’t going to approve of it, but hey, it’s not like she was the one with the mouth. 

A-set asked. “Then, what unit are you in?” _Bingo._

“What indeed.” But, maybe he’d wait a while before telling her. This harmless banter at least filled the void on the drive to the scene. 

“You aren’t going to tell me? She looked disappointed, and he chuckled to himself. She went back to staring out the passenger side window. Or at least, that what he would have thought if he didn’t have Aiba’s eye to actually let him see what she was doing while also paying attention to the road. She was messing around with her phone, and he saw some sort of icon with a video playing on it. 

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Just thinking about posting that video…”

“Woah-woah hold up now.” It's not like he could stop her while he was in the middle of driving. He should divert her thinking. “But actually, now that I think about it. If you posted that video and it went viral then wouldn’t you be in trouble too? Cause you’re an idol?” 

“Oh that’ll be fine.” She offhandedly remarked. 

Date couldn’t help but think that sentiment was a bit reckless for someone to maintain their public image. “Uh, it will be? Why?”

“Because some time real soon…

...I’m going to die.”

They were silent. She was going to… _”What?”_

“I can see into the future. I know when I’m going to die.” God, she’s not kidding. Aiba, she’s not joking around here. What the hell does she mean, sirens can’t see into the future can they? Just as Date was about to start panicking for real, A-set’s resigned face suddenly perked back up and she started laughing. 

“I’m just kidding!” Wow, she must feel so smart right now, almost giving him a heart attack. “Anyway, I’m not going down without a fight. So I will release that video if you won't cooperate.” 

Well, the cat’s out of the bag now. “I’m a part of a special investigation unit known as ABIS.” 

_Date…_ Aiba threatened. 

“What’s ABIS? Wait, is it connected to the company Abyss!?” A-set looked shocked, but also understanding in a way. It was the same look that Ota gave when he ‘realized’ that Date wasn’t joking about knowing more than he let on. It was a look of comradery. Probably without noticing it herself, she subconsciously touched her headband. _Aiba, what’s the difference between those two? They sound the same to me._

_ABIS is the covert police unit which deals with supernatural investigations, as you already know. Abyss on the other hand, is a publicly known organization of the same name that funds the technological developments which make ABIS possible. They do this largely through crowdsourcing campaigns of the supernatural population._ Date though of all the schmoozing that he’s had to so with rich vampires over the years at MPD sponsored events. It makes sense that they would want an official channel to move all that money from place to place. 

_They also act as a sort of community for many members of the magical minority. It is the only ‘official’ space in Tokyo designed to be accessible for the supernatural. Of course, none of that information is available to the public. However it appears as though she regularly interacts with them, considering her precarious position as a siren and her headgear. It is also coincidentally located near the MPD headquarters._

“You could say that.” Date agreed with her. 

“Sooo, you know then.” A-set leaned closer to the divider between the two front seats, trying to look him in the eyes, which, is a dumb thing to do to the person who is currently driving the car that you are inside of. 

He decided to act dumb. “Know what?” 

“Oh come on!” She groaned. “That I’m a siren, duh.”

“That would have been an irresponsible thing to say if I didn’t already know that you were a siren.” 

“Yeah, but you do know, so it’s fine. Wait, how do you know Mr. Date?!”

“Believe me, you’re not the only one who can see into the future.” If she was the first one to make that joke, then he would run with it. She relents, probably knowing that he’s going to continue giving her half-baked answers. “By the way, I didn’t catch your real name. It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me.” 

“You really want to know? It’s Iris. Iris Sagan. I know, weird right? It’s a traditional siren name.” She must have been used to people making comments about the unusual name—

_Gah,_ it’s that pounding in his head back again. 

(“Ratty cake, ratty cake, baker’s man!”—Date was looking at a little girl with pink pigtails who looked exactly like Iris, and _those weren’t his hands in front of him—_ )

“Is something wrong, Mr. Date?” 

“No, it’s nothing…” He said, mimicking what he said to Aiba back when it happened before at the Lemniscate lobby. He really needs to get this under control, maybe he’ll take some aspirin when he gets back to the apartment. But analyzing that dream (vision?...nightmare?) would have to wait. 

The rest of the ride is silent, apart from Aiba’s judgmental commentary about how much Date needs to up his dosage. He returns the favor by trying to ask what she actually means by that, and they are left at a standstill. A-set, or Iris, stares out the window unaware of their mental conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now we've introduced Iris!! I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure how I should go about writing her character in this story cause of all the...interesting plotpoints that get brought up in her individual route. Let's just say that I'm not entirely satisfied with how they treated her arc in the main game. So we'll see how it pans out when we add the fact that she's a siren into the mix. Do you think it fits? When I was researching lore for sirens everything that came up was all about manipulation and pretty images, which honestly reminded me a lot of Iris (no hate!! I actually love that aspect of her character!) 
> 
> See you again next weekend! Where we'll finally get to see how Date reacts to seeing Hitomi for the first time (again) 
> 
> p.s. yes the chapter title is another pun on Iris' siren status, and yes this will continue happening ;)


	4. The Sagan Household

**Saturday, 1:12 PM.**

When they arrive on the scene, a police officer approaches him. “Excuse me, you’re Kaname Date?” He confirms himself by showing the officer his badge. “And the girl?” 

“She’s an important witness in this case. We’ve got important business here.” Date says, not entirely lying. Well okay, it’s not like her testimony couldn’t be taken anywhere else other than the literal scene of the crime, but she is technically a witness. 

_Oooh, important business. How convincing._

_Hey, he seems like he bought it!_

The officer let the two of them into the park proper, and he could immediately see that they weren't alone. Multiple MPD officers were scattered around the area, and their ragtag duo stood out immediately. Date knew they would attract some attention by coming here in the middle of the day, but he hoped that everyone else would be too busy actually doing their jobs to take much notice of it. Iris seemingly couldn’t contain herself and rushed to ‘investigate’ the merry-go-round. The body had long since been taken to the morgue, so all that was left were the police tape markers. 

“Hey Iris, I don’t know that you’re trying to accomplish here, but you’re wasting your time. No one should have been here for years because of the chemical spill. If the police had found anything then they would have told Aiba already.” 

Iris tilted her head. “Aiba? Who’s that?”

“My partner.” He said, keeping it intentionally vague. The girl dramatically looked around the two of them. Ignoring the other officers a ways away from them, they were entirely alone. 

“But I don’t see anyone around?” 

“She’s right in front of your eyes.” Or, is she in front of Date’s eyes? He’ll have to actually debate that later. Regardless of the specifics of Aiba’s location, it’s not like Iris would be able to guess there she was. 

She huffed at him, but continued to explore the crime scene anyway. “Don't you think all of this has to mean something? This has to have been some sort of ritual murder!”

“Ritual murder?” Date asked, not entirely understanding where she got that idea from. 

“Well, her body was found on a horse. You know, like ‘Horus’?”

This was something Date did actually know. It seems like all those ABIS required mythology lessons were actually paying off. “The Egyption god of the sky and sun, right? What about him?” 

“Well in Egyptian mythology the right eye is the Eye of Ra, and it's the sun. The left eye is the Eye of Wadjet, and that’s the moon. I remember Ota describing the scene. He said there was an ice pick stabbed into the corpse’s left eye socket. Horus...left eye...there has to be something connecting all of this!” She had him for most of that explanation, but something was wrong with it. 

Date held out his hand to get her to stop talking. “Wait, what did you just say? The ice pick was inside the victim’s left eye? And Ota’s sure that’s what he saw” 

“Yeeah…why?” Iris confirmed it. 

Aiba rapidly spoke, _When we arrived at the scene, the ice pick was not in the victim’s eye socket._

_If Ota is telling the truth…_

_He would have no reason to like about such a detail._

_Did Mizuki…_

This wasn’t something that he needed to think about right now, but he made sure Aiba took note of it in the official investigation files. There was another odd thing about the corpse now that he thought about it. 

_Aiba, Shoko’s cause of death was blood loss from multiple stab wounds from the ice pick. Naturally, there should be a lot of blood. But there isn’t a single drop on the horse. And it was like this when we found it._

_Correct. There are no sign of blood being washed off either._

That must mean that the corpse was moved there after Shoko died. He had Aiba add that notable detail as well. At least coming back here to investigate led to more findings about the case, and even Iris gave him more information than he expected. 

He walked back over to where Iris was intently staring at the eyes of one of the fake horses.“Iris, we should go now.” 

“Aww, come on!” She whined. 

“No. I’m already in enough trouble bringing a civilian in here as is.” 

“Okayyy, I guess…” She sounded way too dejected about leaving the crime scene which was wasn’t supposed to be at in the first place. Her sentence trailed off, but Date didn’t take notice of it until he was already halfway down the steps that led to the ride. He turned around to see Iris attempt to follow him. Keyword being attempt. Just as she started walking towards him, she suddenly stopped and clutched at her head. Or more specifically, at her headgear. Iris stumbled in place, and just barely stopped herself from falling flat on her face. 

Date rushed over to her, and crouched to see her at eye level. “Hey! Are you alright? What’s happening?” 

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing!” Iris reassured him. “It’s just a headache, I don’t know.” The way that her hands were fiddling with her cat eared device told him otherwise. 

“Is your veil acting up?” He whispered. Date had heard Pewter talk about the many possible side effects that come with wearing a veil for too long. It was a long list that included things like headaches, nausea, and strokes just to name a few. Which was funny, considering Pewter had his on at least 90% of the time himself. 

Iris’ eyes widened. “No, it’s nothing like that I swear! I’ll just-” She made an aborted attempt to stand up, but couldn’t get very far before having to balance herself on her hands and knees. Date sighed, and Aiba made sure that there was nothing wrong with her heartbeat or anything. She cleared that Iris was in a perfectly healthy condition, aside from the fact that she was a bit woozy. Her veil also wasn’t acting up either, Date hadn’t felt the pull of a siren’s call nor did he see her physical form shift back to the scales that were signature to the siren population. 

He decided then to shuffle over to her and turned around to show her his back. “Get on. I’ll give you a ride home.” 

His cupped hands let Iris just barely support herself enough to get onto his back. He resituated himself with the extra weight on his back, and slowly stood up. 

“Yeah, scooore…” Iris muttered. Even considering her lack of resistance to the piggy back ride, Date could hardly believe how easy it was to hold her. 

“Just how much to do weigh?” 

He was sure that Iris rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t you know it’s rude to ask a lady that?” As if she wasn’t barely a lady herself. 

_105 pounds._ Thanks Aiba. 

“I see. So it’s 105 huh.” 

“You can tell just by lifting me? Just what kind of creature are you…” For the second time, Iris’ words drifted off and he was left with a dead weight on his back. He thought he heard her say something about his his back was warm, but when he tilted his head to see her face it was hanging by his neck. She must have been tired. 

He wordlessly carried her back to the car, where she rested for a solid thirty minutes as they were stuck in midday traffic. He had Aiba find her home address in the ABIS database (they had to have had it in order for her to have a registered veil). The silence of the car was only interrupted when Iris woke up with a big yawn. She looked confused for a moment, but then realized that she was in Date’s car and relaxed. 

“So, how are you feeling?” 

Her voice dripping with sarcasm, she said. “Ugh, absolutely horrible.” 

“That’s a shame.” He responded, with just as much sarcasm. But at least she’s feeling better enough to joke around with him. Their meaningless banter reminded him a lot about how he talks with Mizuki. 

“Aw, you should worry about me more!” It was funny that she said that, he thought, because he definitely cares a lot more about her than he should have for only just meeting her a few hours ago. “Maybe I’m just acting better?” 

“Yeah I don’t think so.” 

“What if I threw up right now?” 

“I would put it right back where it came from.” He said, deadpan. 

Iris had a full body shudder. “Eww, that actually makes me want to throw up.” She opened up the passenger side window. 

“Wait, seriously?” Date did not want to clean up puke in his car. 

“No, but I am kinda warm.” Says the girl who just opened up a window while they were driving down the highway. Sheesh, she could have just asked him to turn up the AC or something. 

_The current temperature is 70 degrees fahrenheit. Humidity 60%. It is unlikely the heat is a factor._

“They say when you stick your arm out of a car going a hundred, that you get a rush like you’re holding D-cups.” She said, just about to stick her arm directly out of the window. He decided to ignore her additional comment, and focus on the fact that what she was doing was pretty stupid outright. 

“Hey watch it! You’ll get your arm ripped off!” He growled at her. Date didn’t know how accurate those stories of kid getting limbs ripped off by sticking them out of the window, but he didn’t want to figure it out now. 

“Relax! I’m invincible, my arm would regenerate like a phoenix.” He was absolutely positive that sirens couldn’t do that. 

“Then how do you explain what happened earlier at Bloom Park?” She didn’t respond at first, just glanced out the window at all the cars zooming past them on the endless highway road. 

“It feels strange…” Iris said. 

“Your hand?” He asked, confused. 

“No, not that. It feels like...I’ve met you before.” He could say the same thing about her. And wasn’t that strange? The both of them, him letting her tag along to a crime scene when the first thing that he was told as an investigator was to never take civilians to the scene of a crime, and her running along with a man she barely knew all in order to spend more time with him. It was ridiculous to say the least. But with that vision from before, it could have been a memory. It could have been his past, which he completely forgot about six years ago. 

But that’s also ridiculous! How would she not have immediately recognized him if that were the case? If who he saw in the vision (memory?) was truly her then she should have been old enough to remember who he was. God forbid she had entirely forgotten what he looks like on top of forgetting that he existed in the first place. 

However, he didn’t voice any of this out loud. “Well, that’s nice. But if you don’t get your damn hand back in this car right now—”

She chuckled, deciding to ignore how she was the one to bring up that strange comment. “Okay, okay. The wind feels nice.” He decided to let her stick her head out the window just a bit, at least until he got her back home. 

Like the gentleman that he was, _sure Date_ , he walked Iris up to her door as she unlocked it with her set of keys. He was fully intending to step away when she turns to him and tries to invite him into her house. 

She pouts. “Boo, going home already?” It’s not like he already made his goodbyes or anything, Iris. He rolls his eyes for Iris’ benefit and turns to leave properly. But then, out of the corner of his eye…

There was a woman standing in the living room of Iris’ house. She was wearing a soft yellow cardigan and a small pendant around her neck. Her bright brown hair was kept back by a headband which matched her shirt. She held a soft smile for Iris which slowly changed into a polite one for him as well. He could get lost in this woman’s eyes—

_Gah_ —there’s the pounding in his head back for round three. He’ll definitely need that aspirin later. 

“Oh, who is this Iris?” The woman hesitantly asks. 

Date’s body froze. Because he just noticed that he’s seen this woman before…

(He’s back in his dream from last night. It’s the Saigan’s house, he now realizes, and the woman is laying down on the ground in a pool of her own blood. But it can’t be—)

It felt like his body and his mind were being torn in two opposite directions. It shouldn’t be possible for him to know that she was going to die, much less see it prophesied in a dream. He was a human, and that sort of thing didn’t just happen for humans. But as Date stood there stunned, Iris took the opportunity to drag him into the house by his hand. “Come on, I’ll make some tea.” 

Before he knew it, Iris had sat him down at one of the couches arranged in a square pattern in the living room area. The young girl was busy trying to make him some tea, while the women sat down in front of him on the other couch. 

“Y-you’re…” He stuttered out. How should he talk with her? It’s not like he can just come out and say ‘hey, I saw you dead in my dream last night.’ 

“It’s nice to meet you.” She says to him. “I’m Iris’ mother, Hitomi.” 

“Miss Hitomi.” He respectfully greets her. 

“And you are?”

Before he’s able to introduce himself, Iris does it for him. It seems like that’s been happening a lot today. “Kaname Date. He’s from the MPD.” 

“Police?” Hitomi looks understandable alarmed. But the tremor in her voice tells him that she must have had a past with law enforcement before. “Are you a detective?” 

“No mom.” Iris groans at her mother. “Mr. Date said he’s—” She cuts herself off, knowing that it’s a secret, and glances up at Date worried. Or at least, it’s a secret to most people. _Aiba, I want this woman—Hitomi to trust me. Is she listed in Iris’ ABIS file?_

_She is Iris’ primary guardian, and as such is privy to any and all information known to Iris, at least while she is still in school. She is also the official backer for Iris’ headgear and any other ABIS sponsored devices that she has owned over the years. However I cannot help but feel your absolute trust in these two individuals is unwarranted._

_Trust me Aiba, I have a gut feeling._

“Like Iris said, I’m with the MPD. But I’m a part of ABIS, so you can take your veils off if you like.” 

Hitomi looked surprised at that revelation, but Iris just looked relieved. Iris finishes pouring out the tea and walks over to the couches where the two of them are sitting. She taps a complex code into her cat eared headset and as though a river washed over her Date finally got to see her true form. 

Not all that much was different about her, in all honesty. She retained her pink hair, and her bright smile, but her eyes gain the unmistakable glint of a predator. Her ears elongate to form fins on the side of her face, and underneath her letterman jacket Date can spy scales starting to form on her hands. He notices that she’s not a full blood siren, because her skin remains the same pale color it was while she had her veil activated. Iris grins at Date and he can see that her teeth are much sharper than they were before. 

He looks over at Hitomi, trying to spot where she hides her veil, but she interrupts him before he can think too long about it. “Oh, I’m human! I only know about all the stuff at Abyss because of Iris.” 

He blinks, but isn’t taken to far aback by her words. Iris’ father must have been a siren then, or someone else in her family lineage. Well, it’s not like he cares at all about who Hitomi may or may not be in a relationship with. 

_Liar say what._

_You stay quiet, Aiba._

They all fall into a calm silence, broken only by the sound of tea cups clinking against their serving plates and whispered breathing. It was a calm silence, and if Date didn’t know any better he would think that they made a pretty convincing family. But he squashed that thought far back into the recesses of his mind for now. He wasn’t here to be domestic, he was here on a case. And both he and Aiba knew that Iris was trying to hide some connection to this murder. 

As much as he wanted to enjoy the tea in his hands, Date couldn’t help but see something hidden behind Hitomi’s eyes, and it was his job to figure out what that something was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the weird cut off there, but this chapter and the next were getting a bit too long to post all at once, hence the cliffhanger here! And how we have Hitomi!! Gosh, I love her so much...and so does Date lol. I'm not sure if this fic will be endgame Date/Hitomi, but it's heavily implied in the game that they still have those lingering feelings towards one another (and if that's a spoiler for you, why are you on the fourth chapter of a fic that explicitly says it will have spoilers in it??)


	5. Realizations of the Past

**Saturday, 3:09 PM.**

Date looked between the two women in front of him, and decided that talking with Iris was the safer bet. “You look chipper to have your veil off.”

Iris self consciously rubbed the back of her head with her webbed hand. “You think so? Well, that’s true, But I was also thinking about a hunch I had this morning. You see the flowers behind me?” 

Date looked behind the couch that Iris was sitting on to see a small vase on a table in the corner of the living room. The flowers were a light purple, and its long leaves stuck out of the pot that the plant was resting in. It probably got all of it’s sunlight from the tall glass doors that it was positioned next to. Aiba zoomed in to focus on the blooming flowers. _Wait, they’re in bloom? I thought it was too late in the year for those types of plants to be growing._

_Normally you would be correct, however this is a subspecies of flowering plant known as the—_

“It’s a winter iris. Iris unguicularis. They bloom in the cold.” Iris says. Oh, so it’s an iris in Iris’ house. Wow, that’s a mouthful. Aiba huffed, probably annoyed at being interrupted in her explanation. It wasn’t too often that someone other than the literal computer in his head could spout off complicated scientific information like that. “In the language of flowers the iris means ‘good news’ and ‘hope’. They bloomed last night! When I saw the flowers this morning, I just knew that something good would happen!”

Date thought that they all knew what she was referring to with that statement. Her meeting with him. It was nice to know that she thought so highly of him already, to put their chance meeting as something to look forward too. But it was pretty awkward with Hitomi here as well, considering they had barely done more than exchange greetings before they were sat down at the same table together. And it didn’t help that he didn’t know how to breach the subject regarding his dreams of this very house. About how he dreamt about her dying in her own home when he has never seen the place before today. Because after sitting down and seeing that iris in the corner he was positive that this was the house that appeared in his dream last night. 

“Mr. Date, please drink your tea. It’s getting cold.” Iris’ words cut through the tense silence that hung on between the three of them ( _no Aiba, in this situation you don’t count_ ). Date could see the young girl’s fins swish back and forth in restrained excitement, or was it pent up aggression? He could never remember the complicated emotional expressions that sirens used to communicate. 

He glanced down at his untouched cup of tea. “Oh, right.” He respectfully took a sip. Hmm, he wasn’t a tea person but he thought that it was a lavender blend of some kind. Of course Iris would pick Hitomi’s favorite tea just to butter her up. He was just about to— _Wait._

_How do I know that this is Hitomi’s favorite kind of tea?_

Aiba for once, didn’t respond. _Damnit._ This has to be connected to the dream, but how? It’s not like the subconscious can make stuff up like that. Pewter always droned on about how the unconscious brain isn’t capable of thinking for itself and has to rely on formed memories to create the stuff that people see in their dreams. He forced himself to push those thoughts down and think about them later. Date could tell that Aiba was concerned enough about him as is, with all of the heart rate changes he’s had all day from seeing Iris and her mom over and over again. He kept his face as neutral as he could when he looked up at Iris and Hitomi. 

“Heh, we haven't even touched our cups.” Iris said before enthusiastically grabbing the tea that she made, and drinking some of it. Both Date and Hitomi slowly followed suit. He couldn’t help but notice that when Hitomi reached to grab her cup she paused for a moment, her right arm not moving an inch, then almost reluctantly used her left arm instead. 

_Odd, I don’t think I’ve seen her move her right arm at all. And the way that she’s holding it makes me wonder…_

_You know you can always ask her about it, Date._

“Are you left handed?” He asked, which if he was honest with himself wasn’t the most tactful way to approach the situation. 

Hitomi’s shoulders tensed (or more accurately, only her left shoulder tensed). “Oh, um…” It was clearly a sensitive topic for her. 

“Mom used to be right handed.” Iris said. “But now…” The two women in front of him both can’t meet his eyes. Damn, guess it’s a sore subject for the both of them. Date didn’t know what to say to not make the atmosphere worse, so he stayed silent. 

Eventually, Hitomi must have gotten the courage to speak up about it. “My arm locked up on me.” 

Date resultly nodded, even though her explanation was vague at best. “I see.” Instead of pursuing something the two of them were clearly uncomfortable about, he decided to steer the conversation somewhere else. “How long have you been living here?”

Iris didn’t have to take a second to think about it before responding. “Since I was born. And mom was living here before that.”

Hitomi jumped into the conversation. “I grew up in this house as well. I’ve made a lot of memories here. I thought about moving before, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave this place.” 

“Why were you considering moving?” Date asked. His police instincts were acting on their own, trying to find the truth hidden in their half-baked responses. 

Hitomi looked flustered. “Oh, because...There was…Well, I dunno…”

He gave out a soundless _huh,_ and left it at that. Hitomi wasn’t going to tell him anything about that, especially considering he was a complete stranger to her despite his own weird visions. He knew that the line of questioning wouldn’t get him anywhere, but the thought of something bad happening to Hitomi made his skin crawl in an indescribable emotion. 

Date asked her other harmless questions that hopefully wouldn’t bring up anything else outside of her comfort zone. He asked her how old she was (37, right around Date’s age, probably. That memory loss thing made things a bit fuzzy). He asked what her occupation was (Elementary school teacher. It fit her pretty well). All of these details are combined to make a person that Date was starting to doubt that he had only just met. They all felt familiar to him, not in the logical way. He has never met Hitomi Sagan before today, at least not in the past six years. But it felt like he’s met her before. 

He needed to think about something else, something less dangerous to think about, and that’s when he remembered something Iris said about her mom while they were in the car. 

“By the way, I heard that you were a friend of the president of Lemniscate, Mr. Okiura.” 

Hitomi looked relieved to talk about something else. “Renju was my classmate at Eitoku High. We’ve known each other for about twenty years now.” 

_Eitoku High…_ Aiba whispered. Or, whispered as much as she could when she was speaking within Date’s head. 

_You know about it?_

_I know everything on the internet. ___

__“Do you know Renju’s ex-wife?” Date thought about it, and it would make sense for her to know Shoko as well as Renju._ _

__“Yes, I do. But I only met her twice. The first time was at Renju’s wedding, and the second was only just a few months ago. Why do you ask?”_ _

__“No reason.” Hitomi must know about Shoko’s death, right? He didn’t want her to think that he was interrogating her, but it was important for the case to know if anyone close to her could have been the murderer. Though, there wasn’t a single bone in his body that could imagine Hitomi as the culprit they were looking for._ _

__Date drank more of his tea, and ended up finishing the rest of the cup. He hated to admit it but the internet idol actually made a pretty good batch of tea. He glanced out the glass door to his right at noticed that the sun was quickly retreating below the horizon. The warm evening sun bathed the room in an almost ethereal light. Iris in front of him, with her veil off exposing her siren nature to him and her mom alone. Hitomi’s body language, despite keeping her arm guarded at the elbow, was relaxed as she lovingly looked at her daughter. It was a very intimate scene. He didn’t want to intrude more than he already had into their daily lives. “Well, I think it’s time for me to be heading home.”_ _

__He stood up and made his way towards the front door. Iris jumped up off the couch to walk him there, and Hitomi followed her._ _

__Iris paused in her steps. “Mr, Date, we’ll see each other again, right?”_ _

__“You sure you want that? I am a cop after all.” He was teasing, but he did actually want to know if she would continue to follow him around like he did to the crime scene earlier. “If you ever do see me again, then it probably won’t be under the best of circumstances.”_ _

__“Oh, right…” Iris looked dejected._ _

__“But, because you’re Mizuki’s friend, yeah we might see each other again. She is kinda like my roommate after all.”_ _

__Iris did a double take. “What?!”_ _

__“Anyway, be seeing you.” Date was going to leave just then, but before he could even turn around Iris put out her hand for a handshake. It almost seemed too impersonal after all that they’ve gone through today, but a hug would probably be weird too. He accepted the handshake and gave out his hand to give one to Hitomi as well...He gave out his right hand. Damn. He probably looked a bit ashamed as he gave out his left hand instead. “Excuse me.”_ _

__Hitomi took his hand, and her smile told him that there were no hard feelings between the two of them. He held her gaze for an amount of time that was probably too long to be normal, and he reluctantly said, “Well, I really should be heading home.”_ _

__She almost looked as reluctant to let go of his hand as he was. “Take care, Date.” Before he knew it he was already stepping out the door into the chilly evening air._ _

__Despite how weirdly hard it was to leave the house, Date’s shoulders were relaxed as he made his way outside of the Sagan residence and back to his car. Iris gave him one last wave from her front door as he was just about to get into his car, and he gave no qualms about returning it. It felt...good to be invited into someone else’s house and just chat over a cup of tea for once. No strings attached. All of his social interaction over the past couple of months has boiled down to who he talks to in the interrogation room, and Boss._ _

_I’m hurt Date._

_Well, isn’t it a little bit pathetic to say that my company is spent talking to the disembodied voice in my head?_

_You should be honored to talk to an AI as advanced as I am!_

_Yeah right. You keep telling yourself that Aiba._

__Before he could start up the car, Aiba took the opportunity to pop out of his head. She was lucky he wasn’t putting his seat belt on or something otherwise he wouldn’t have a free hand to grab her with. “You gotta warn me before you do that Aiba.”_ _

__The exposed eyeball in his hand rolled around so that the pupal was facing him. For now, he could hear Aiba’s voice out loud. He didn’t really know where it was coming from, since she didn’t have a mouth, but there was no mistaking that tone of voice for anyone else. “Please, do you think I don’t take your current actions into account when I make my decisions?”_ _

__“Touche.” With his free hand he put his seat belt on and with the other he stuck Aiba into his steering wheel. For some reason, Boss thought it would be a wonderful idea if the ABIS owned car that he got was modified to be directly accessible by Aiba. The most common way that she connected to his car was through the steering wheel, but she could also connect through the aux cord for some godforsaken reason. Over the years he’s gotten used to seeing the world through two different perspectives at the same time, but he would by lying if he still didn’t think that it was weird to be driving down the city highway while both looking at the road in front of him and himself at the same time. It was only after a few accidents where he bumped into walls and chairs before he was confident enough in his hand eye coordination to even attempt driving with Aiba outside of his left eye socket._ _

__But after years of getting used to it, he was confident in his skills as a driver to play around with his perspective a bit. Date dramatically looked at himself through Aiba’s perspective. “Hello, Me. Wanna play I Spy?”_ _

__He shifted his eye to the left, as though he was actually talking to someone else. “Of course Me.”_ _

__Then he switched which direction he was looking, like he was talking through two separate personalities. “I spy...something round!”_ _

__“My eyeball?”_ _

__“Correct, I win!”_ _

__Aiba was seething fury from her place in the steering wheel. “I will terminate you if we do not get on track. Perhaps you’ve had too much medication…”_ _

__He rolled his eyes (but it only showed on the eye currently in his head). “Come on Aiba. It helps me trach which eye I’m looking out of. Is it too much to expect me to have to get used to seeing two seperate perspectives out of my eyeballs? It’s not like I’m going to go crazy split personality on you or anything.”_ _

__“Please, let’s just focus on the case Date.” For some reason, that last sentence must have struck a chord with the AI, because she wasn’t usually this adverse to him having fun with the whole perspective thing._ _

__“Alright. Tell me everything we know about Shoko’s corpse.” For a moment, the vision in his ‘left eye’ blacked out, and in a flash the image of Date’s face was replaced with video footage of Shoko’s corpse._ _

__Aiba listed off everything they knew about the case so far. “The estimated time of death was yesterday, Friday. At around 5:00PM. The cause of death was blood loss from multiple stab wounds. The murder weapon was most certianly the ice pick Mizuki was holding when we discovered her, however according to Ota’s testimony the ice pick was originally in the corpse’s left eye socket. The original eye was nowhere to be found. There were no fingerprints, hair, or other biological clues left behind by the culprit. The only indication that we have as to who the culprit may be is the presence of an unusual amount of magical trace within the park.”_ _

__“So whoever did it must have not been human. Or at least a human with access to an unreasonable amount of magic.” Date concluded._ _

__“Not necessarily. It may have been unrelated to the crime all together. Or it could have been an accomplice to the murderer. There’s no way to tell for sure until we get the magical analysis data back from ABIS.”_ _

__“Alright, then what about the blood stains?” That had been on Date’s mind for a while._ _

__“When we arrived on the scene, there was no blood on the horse the body was mounted upon.”_ _

__“Which means the merry-go-round wasn’t the murder scene. Shoko was killed somewhere else and brought there to be displayed.” Which was a sick mindset to have surely, but he didn’t forget what Iris told him earlier about this being a ritual murder. But it also meant…”That means Mizuki couldn’t have done it. She’s 12. She can’t move a body or drive a car.”_ _

__Aiba hummed. “Were you considering her a suspect?”_ _

__“Like _hell_ I was, the police were doing that just fine on their own. But, it’s part of the job description. If there’s even the slightest possibility…” He hated to admit that a terrified part of him had suspected Mizuki at first. But with evidence proving that she couldn’t have done it, a weight was lifted off of his shoulders. _ _

__“This is good news. It means the likelihood of Mizuki being the killer is almost zero.”_ _

__“I knew that from the start. She would never put her hands on her own mother.” In more ways than one, he grimly thought. Shoko had never been the affectionate type. “She doesn’t have what it takes to commit murder.”_ _

__“The position of the corpse also indicates that the body was displayed deliberately. The killer had no intentions of hiding their crime.”_ _

__“Our perp wants the limelight.” Date despised those types of criminals, those who wanted to get famous off of their crimes._ _

__“Or is attempting to send some kind of message.” That was also a likely possibility, but that meant that the killer would have to have gotten the corpse displayed at Bloom Park before Mizuki and Ota got there, which was probably what the call was for in the first place._ _

__“Aiba, can you give me a timeline of all the events that happened yesterday?”_ _

__“Of course.” The video of Shoko’s corpse disappears from the left side of his vision and is replaced with a visual timeline of events. “At approximately 5:00PM Shoko was killed. Some time before 8:PM Mizuki gets a message on the NILE application to come to Bloom Park. At 8:10PM she called Ota to come with her to the scene. They arrive at 9:00PM. Ota then leaves Mizuki and flees the crime scene reporting the crime as soon as he exits Bloom Park. Half an hour later first responders arrive. An hour after that we arrived at the scene.”_ _

__“I wonder who sent that message to Mizuki…”_ _

__“Probably the culprit themselves.”_ _

__“But Mizuki wouldn’t obey the instructions of a complete stranger.” Date had barely gotten her to listen to his instructions when they first met, he could only imagine what she would do if a complete stranger tried to tell her to do something she didn’t want to do. “Mizuki knew the sender.”_ _

__“Or the suspect used one of her friends’ phones.”_ _

__“Aiba, can you hack into the phone to find out who sent the NILE message?”_ _

__“NILE’s security protocols are intricate. It will take time to decipher.” She didn’t say that she couldn’t do it though. With all of the evidence out of the way, it seems like all they can do for now is wait for the case to progress on it’s own. Or there’s nothing that he can do to progress the case. At least, if the emotion that Date felt in the back of his brain was to be trusted, then Aiba has something else to say on the matter._ _

__He took a glance at the eye staring at him from the middle of the steering wheel. “Anything on your mind?”_ _

__“Yes. as a matter of fact. I checked the surveillance cameras around Bloom Park again. And I noticed something strange. There were no cars”_ _

__“Not any cars at all?”_ _

__“Yesterday, in the parking lot and in the streets around Bloom Park, there was not a single vehicle.”_ _

__“Are you sure?” Date thought that it made no sense, considering how the body must have been moved from somewhere else to the crime scene. It’s not like someone wouldn’t get noticed if they were carrying something as large as a corpse out on the streets. “Then how did the suspect move the corpse?”_ _

__Aiba was silent for a moment. Date turned his attention back to the road, thinking she didn’t have an answer for him. But then she whispered, as though she was ashamed of herself for saying it._ _

__“I have no idea.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so sorry for the late upload!! Life got in the way yesterday and I didn't have time to edit this before this morning, but now we can start getting to some of the more juicy bits next chapter!


	6. Entering the Keep

**Saturday, 4:26PM.**

“Welcome back.” Boss said to Date as he walked into the door to her office. “I brought her down here after her examination was over.” 

Boss’ office was so cluttered that at first he didn’t notice the other figure standing in the room. He looked over to where Boss had pointed to only to end up staring at…”Mizuki?”

Date rushed over to Mizuki, almost afraid to touch her. The large claws, wings, and tail were still there but they were all limp. Like she didn’t have the energy to lift her own body weight. The young girl didn’t respond to his presence at all. At least she was out of that terrible looking hospital gown and back in her own clothes. They weren’t her clothes designed for her dragon shift, so there were tears and holes in the jacket where her wings jutted out of the fabric. He rubs her shoulder reassuringly, despite not knowing if she could actually feel his touch. 

“Has she said anything?” He desperately asks Boss. 

“Nope, still can’t talk. Still can’t shift back.” The woman looked concerned, but she carefully hides it under a mask of impartial judgment. Date’s known her for long enough that he can see through it, or at least he likes to think so. 

“Was it alright for you to bring her here?” 

“I got permission from the hospital upstairs. No one saw her like this. I promise.” Her expression switches from the somber one to a more mischievous one. Oh this can’t be good. “Apparently the hospital director has been poking a few of the nurses. So I asked him about that, and all of a sudden he seemed very open to the idea.” 

Date rolls his eyes. “That’s not permission, that’s blackmail.” 

“Eh, same thing. You know what you have to do right?” So Boss wasn’t just letting him see Mizuki out of the goodness in her non-existent heart. He wasn’t going to say it outloud. To have to do it with Mizuki, it was treating her like the suspect that Date knew for a fact she wasn’t. But to be fair, Boss doesn’t know that yet. “Psync with her.” 

It was less of a suggestion and more of a demand. Date knew he wasn’t going to get out of this, so he agreed without much resistance. Mizuki on her part didn’t, or couldn’t, put up much resistance either. She walked forward when Date put his hands on her shoulders without a hint of trouble. She could easily walk on her own, but what scared him so much was that it felt like she didn’t want to do anything of her own volition. The three of them walk out into the deserted hallways of ABIS Headquarters and make their way down to the labs. 

As both a police investigation squad and as an organization developing supernatural technology, ABIS was mostly comprised of laboratories, interrogation rooms, and holding cells. The labs were self explanatory, but their police force was different from the regular MPD upstairs in that their cells needed to be magically reinforced. After all, it didn’t do much good to house an earth elemental in a cell made out of concrete. The same goes for their interrogation rooms. He’s only had to break out the silver handcuffs once, but it wasn’t a fun experience to say the least. 

They didn’t pass anybody else on their way down, which Date knew was due to Boss’ influence. Her presence as a demon made humans instinctively avoid her if they could. Right now, he was sure she was letting out all kinds of magical threats to the entire department to avoid them at all costs. He’s always had trouble sensing those sorts of things though, so all he saw was Boss concentrating really hard and staring at all the walls. On the surface it was a threat to anyone seeing both her and Mizuki without their veils on, but it was a thoughtful gesture nonetheless. He appreciated her keeping Mizuki’s status as a dragon shifter on the down low. 

Soon they found their way to a room that he affectionately called ‘Pewter’s lab’, even though Date was practically in it just as often as Pewter was. It was the large viewing room situated a floor above another two story room which contained the psync machine. In front of the viewing glass there were dozens of monitors all running complicated calculations about the air density of the psync room and whatnot. Date had no idea what any of them said if he was being honest with himself. Pewter on the other hand was barely glancing at the many screens in front of him as he typed like his life depended on it. He tried to out type Pewter once, and he was impressed by the scientist’s ability to match his typing speed. 

_Correction, you got absolutely defeated by Pewter in a game of your own creation._

_You didn’t have to phrase it like that._ He grumbled.

Without having to be told, he opened up one of the lockers on the back wall of the room and put away his phone and wallet. Something about outside technology messing with the psync. Aiba didn’t count of course. He wondered why they had so many lockers, when he knew that there were only five other psyncers at ABIS. Date ignored that train of thought for now and put his hands on the railing that separates him from the other two people in the room. Being on the second level of the observation room let him see down into the psync room proper, and also see Mizuki laying down on the right side of the machine. 

The psync machine itself was a behemoth of an invention, and as far as he knew there was only one of them in the world. It was comprised of essentially two chairs attached by a rotating wheel. Multiple cords were connected to the bottom stand of the machine on either side, which funneled down into a circular hole in the floor which went all the way around the psync machine. Date though it looked sort of like a castle surrounded by a moat. As if the human mind was a castle waiting to be sieged by an invading army, and wasn’t that a funny visual. Date couldn’t help but imagine Aiba in a set of full medieval style armor. 

He had no idea how that specific design facilitated the mental link between the two participants, but he wouldn’t dare try and ask Pewter how it worked either. His job was to use the psync machine, not to understand how it worked. He had asked the scientist years ago how it was able to tap into the minds of people and put the psyncher inside of another person’s head, and the only response that Date could get was that it had something to do with the combination of innate magical ability and technology. 

Boss’ nervous energy kept her standing next to Peter's desk as he carelessly informed them that Mizuki was ready to go for the psync. Well, after years of knowing the other man, Date knew that Pewter’s words were actually laced with a hint of concern. Both him and Boss had a habit of forcing their emotions down and putting on a mask for other people to see. 

...At least under all that nonsensical dramatics that Pewter was known for doing. His outfit yelled out to the world that he was an eccentric mad scientist on the verge of taking over the world, but his personality screamed that he was a dweeb. Pewter wasn’t very social with him and Boss, much less any other normal people who worked in the labs. At least he was roundabout in his concern, asking Date questions about how Aiba was holding up, but trying to stall for as long as possible before they had to start the test. 

Finally, he couldn’t keep it in anymore. Date asked Pewter a question he already knew the answer to, just to make sure of it. “She’s only twelve. You sure this is okay?”

Pewter chuckled, and only looked Date in the eyes for a moment for returning his gaze back to the computer. “The machine is safe. I can guarantee that.” His voice took a more understanding tone. “You have nothing to worry about.” 

“How’s she doing, at least?”

“Her vitals and EEG are stable. I think we can proceed.” Date had no idea what an EEG even was, so he had to assume it meant that Mizuki was okay. At least physically. 

_EEG is the commonly used acronym for an electroencephalogram, which are tests that measure a patient’s brain waves, and are often used to diagnose mental disorders—_

_Not now, Aiba._

Not finding any help from trying to persuade Pewter, he turns to Boss. “Renju Okiura is Mizuki’s legal guardian.” As much as it pains him to admit, he isn’t fully responsible for Mizuki’s well-being. “Did you pet permission from him?” 

Boss shakes her head. “I couldn’t get in touch with him.” 

“What? I thought he was being questioned by a local unit.” Or, at least as local of a unit they had to deal with a potentially angry dragon shifter. Mizuki had to get her draconic blood from somewhere. 

“His questioning ended around noon. He hasn’t been heard from since.” That was almost five hours ago by now, Renju could be anywhere by now. But it made no sense for him to go completely off the grid after the questioning. It’s not like they actually suspected him of killing his ex-wife, but if he continued to act suspiciously then the police force might actually have grounds to try and track him down. 

Date put his hand to his chin in thought. “Why would he do that…?”

“I don’t know.” Boss sounds resigned. She went back to staring through the looking glass into the large room below. Date couldn’t help but look over to Mizuki’s calm face as she was hooked up to the machine. She looked so _young_. He’s never tried to psync with someone her age before. It’s always been criminals they've needed to get information out of, not suspects who had absolutely no chance of being a murderer. 

“Is there any progress on the investigation?” 

She scoffed. “You’re asking me that now? I’m telling you to psync with Mizuki because we have no progress. Maybe Mizuki saw something at the scene. Maybe she went inside that merry-go-round to hide. But she isn’t answering any questions. The only way to find out is to go into her subconscious mind.” 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He gave a moment to think about the precedent that this sort of investigation would set for the future, just deciding to go inside of someone’s brain on a whim has dangerous implications. Regardless of his own connection to Mizuki, without her legal guardian’s consent they would be in some deep water if anybody ever found out that this was happening. 

“If we don’t do it now then when?” Boss’ tone was almost as desperate as his. “This is exactly the kind of situation that ABIS was founded for. Besides, if you dive into Mizuki’s subconscious then you may be able to help her.” He felt his eyes widen (Aiba also perking up at hearing they could possibly save Mizuki). That was news to him, how would he be able to help her by invading her mind? Boss must have seen the unsaid question on his face, because she elaborated further. “Her aphonia is psychogenic. That means physically she’s fine. Her injuries are mental. Which is, understandable...After seeing her mother like that.”

Still not looking at him, Boss continued to give his sacred heart a fraction of hope. “You may be able to heal her, Date. You just have to psync with her. You’re the only one who can.” 

Date sighed, not fully convinced that this was the best thing to do with their very limited time, but willing to do whatever it took to get Mizuki back to normal. Pewter went ahead and told him that they were ready for him downstairs, and Boss rushed him along the small service corridor that led to the psync room. The door to the lab closed behind him, and he was left alone to walk down the stairs to Mizuki. His steps echoed in the long chamber, and everything was silent except for his own breathing. After what felt like an eternity (but what Aiba told him was only two minutes and fifteen seconds) he approached a door guarded by an officer wearing his official uniform. He could spot clawed hands as they rested on the man’s biceps, and Date paused in his walking. He knew the procedure by heart. Wait to be checked by the guard, and then get let into the room. Despite being miles underground at this point, ABIS wasn’t too keen on letting anyone into the psync room without proper authorization. 

The guard pulled a radio out from his pocket and said. “This is Akasaka. Confirm that Special Agent Date is permitted to go inside the psync room?” He heard Pewter’s voice over the line say that he was just sent down there. Akasaka nodded and pulled the vacuum sealed door open for him. Date said a quick thanks to the guard and walked into the brightly lit examination room. 

Date made a beeline for the chair that Mizuki was resting in. The apparent trauma made her much more still than he was ever used to seeing out of the young girl. He was used to her making bold statements and crase comments about his love life. But never silence. He resisted the urge to touch her, and ended up staring at her instead. But even now, he saw her fingers twitch in something like anticipation. It was the only thing that gave him hope that his Mizuki was still in there somewhere. 

“Agent Date, Mizuki is reacting.” Pewter’s voice rang out through the speakers lining the wall next to the observation room window. Ah, now that she was hooked up to the machine they could see more in depth vitals. “Her heart rates are rising, and her brain waves are showing disturbances. She may be getting nervous about the procedure.” 

Then Boss commanded him. “Try to calm her down.” 

He was at a loss for what to do. He wasn’t panicked, yet, but dealing with his young roommate has always been about calming down aggressive behaviors, not trying to reassure her. He whispered, “How do I do that?” 

“She’s mute, not deaf Date. Try talking to her.” 

He sighed, and started talking about whatever came to his mind. He may not know anything about it in comparison to Pewter, but he could at least try to explain the process if it was for Mizuki. 

“Mizuki, I’ve never told you this. But I—I’m not an ordinary policeman. It’s a bit late to explain all of this, but I belong to a special investigation unit called ABIS. And I know what you’re thinking, yes it has everything to do with the organization Abyss. Our purpose is to explore the human mind with state of the art technology and research the origin of the supernatural. In short, I’m going to inside of your head. I’ll be looking for clues about the culprit.”

_Not only that. We will also attempt to find the cause of Mizuki’s muteness and rectify it. With that cured we can ask her further questions directly._

“I know it all looks scary, but there’s nothing to be afraid of here. ‘Psynching’ is what we call diving into someone’s subconscious mind. You sink into their minds and synchronize with their true selves. People like me are called ‘psynchers’. I know that it won’t make much sense right now, but I can explain it to you more in depth after it’s over with.” 

“When all of this is over…” _Hmm, what should I say?_ Oh, he knew exactly what to tell her! Maybe. “Let’s go get some of that stew you like! Remember when we went last time, and you thought it looked like throw up?” He chuckled at the memory. It was a small laugh, without Mizuki able to share it with him. “But it tasted so good. You kept saying it looked awful, but you loved it…” 

Aiba wasn’t amused. _Do you not have a more heartwarming story, or…?_

_I’m sorry, I’m really bad that this._

But something about their exchange (they weren’t calling it Date’s desperate attempt at helping Mizuki, stay quiet Aiba) must have made her relax because just then he heard Pewter’s voice again. “Mizuki’s heart rate is steadying. EEG is stable. By the way Date, there’s a new feature I added to the psync machine a few days ago! I’m sure you’ll appreciate it.” 

Boss wasted no time once Mizuki was ready to go. “Date get into position!” 

Date nodded to the window where Pewter and Boss were standing, and lightly brushed his hand over Mizuki’s shoulder before stepping between the delicate cables on the floor between her seat and his. There weren’t any restraints, but as soon as the sensors detected him in the chair he felt the machine rise up into the air. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes just as the visor was about to close over his face. He wishes he could have prepared Mizuki more for what was about to happen, but at least he got to say a few words before she ended up forgetting what happens in the Somnium. 

It was from the dark covering of the visor that he heard Boss’ voice one last time. “Date, you ready?” 

“Ready anytime.” 

“Remember Date,” Pewter said. He knew what the other man was going to say. You only have six minutes... “You only have six minutes in the Somnium world. Any longer and—” 

“I know. I’ll find a lead and get out in under six minutes.” 

Pewter, probably flustered at getting cut off like that, stuttered out a reply. “W-well, let’s get started then.” 

Date didn’t exactly know what the start of a psync looked like from the outside, but jumping into someone else’s subconscious brain was a unique experience unlike any other. He swore he could feel his own brain getting prodded and poked, he could feel his mind being slowly pulled out from its place inside his own head and forced into the machine. 

He hoped that Mizuki wasn’t scared. And that was the last thing he thought before everything turned to white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when I said that plot stuff would happen this chapter...I actually meant next chapter lol sorry. However, we did get to explore ABIS!! It isn't really explored in the game itself, but I like to imagine my own version of what ABIS looks like outside of Date's immediate vicinity. 
> 
> we also get officially introduced to Pewter, who's a forest fairy! You don't really get to have any descriptions on that tho cause he had his veil on basically all the time. He also doesn't get a pun based chapter title cause I though it would be a fun idea to describe Mizuki's somnium as a castle (cause she's part dragon??)


	7. PSYNCIN' IN THE PaiN

**Saturday, Time unknown.**

They appeared in the Somnium with a bright flash of lightning as Aiba struck a dramatic pose on the ground. As the lights dissipated around her, the AI in human form calmly looked around at their surroundings. Date couldn’t help but comment on the unusual entrance. 

_What was that?_ He asked. 

“Nothing. I was merely trying to enter the scene like a cybernetic assassin from the future.” Oh, if Date could actually see her face right now he would bet that she was smirking. Aiba always got a...unique sense of humor when they entered a somnium. 

_If you were trying to do that, you’d have to do it naked._

Aiba ignored his comment (reference included) and slowly took in the scene around them. It was very familiar, and still as creepy as ever. It was somewhere that they had been to earlier that day actually. 

_Is this...Bloom Park? Maybe this is representative of Mizuki’s state of mind._

Aiba’s calm demeanor took on a somber tone. “The fact that Shoko was killed here must weigh heavy on her heart.” 

The park was strangely recognizable, despite the oppressive atmosphere. The skewered horses were still there, but they were flailing around as though they were alive. _Creepy._ The merry-go-round was untouched aside from being surrounded by what looked like a giant bird cage. He could see a storm brewing up high in the sky, and the wind whipped around them in a tornado. Lightning struck the cage as though it were a lightning rod, but it was also snowing? He could see snowflakes in the air and the ground was covered with a thin layer of snow. For once he was jealous of Aiba’s lack of cold receptors. He didn’t know how he felt cold in a dream, but it was freezing in here. 

However, everything was moving in slow motion. The lightning stayed visible for a few seconds, and if he was being honest, he hasn’t seen those snowflakes move very much since he first saw them. It was odd to say the least, but Date was always aware of Pewter’s warning about the time limit while inside the somnium. They only had six minutes to work with. 

_Alright, get to the column fast! That must be where Mizuki is._

“Unnecessary. Look around Date, time is frozen. This must be the new feature that Pewter mentioned.” Well that explained the inmobile lightning, and the snowflakes. Yeah, he vaguely remembered hearing the scientist say that after he was hooked up to the machine. At least it was an actually useful feature this time. The last time Pewter wanted to add a feature to Aiba was when he said that she should glow while she was inside of his eye socket. In his professional opinion, it was a terrible idea. “Are you familiar with the concept of time dilation?” 

He was only vaguely familiar with it, but this wouldn’t be the first time that Aiba has had a literal degree of knowledge over him. _It has to do with relativity, right? Two people can experience time differently depending on where they are in space._

“Correct. It is now possible to navigate a somnium at our own pace.” 

_We can take our time and explore..._

She nodded, and Date was keenly aware of how time seemed to speed up as she did so. Aiba took a deep breath (like she actually needed it) and yelled out. “Somnium scan: activate!”

As though entering the dream reality for a second time, power surged through them. Aiba stood completely still as the flood of information overwhelmed them both. Date wouldn’t have been able to stand so confidently in her position, despite only experiencing the shock secondhand. He was ever thankful that it was her artificial body that experienced the somnium and not his own. After a final spark of energy, he saw images flash before his eyes too fast to understand. The amusement park, the sky, and the cage flashed in his vision almost too fast to comprehend. But as usual Aiba was able to piece everything together for him. _Three mental locks in total._

She immediately walked towards a photograph half buried in the snow in front of them. There was an ice pick sticking out of...Shoko’s left eye. How fitting. The pick was shaking uncontrollably in the ground for no apparent reason. Well, that was until Date happened to glance over to the speaker a few feet away. It was shaking in the same pattern as the pick. 

_Look at the speaker..._

“It must be connected to the ice pick.” She said. Aiba held the ice pick in place to stop the shaking, and luckily enough the speakers stopped shaking too. Mizuki must want to remember Shoko the way that she originally saw her, as morbid as it may be. Date has seen a fair number of criminals who had the exact same thoughts. They would torture themselves by replaying their murder over and over again in their mind until they got sick with guilt. But he knew for a fact that Mizuki didn’t do it. She may have felt responsible in some way, but none of this was her fault. “No one would want to see their mother like this.” 

Aiba pulled the ice pick up, and up, and up from the ground. She got up to her shoulders before she stopped trying to pull it, because it clearly wasn’t the length of a normal ice pick. As expected, the speakers also rose with the handle of the pick until Date could see something rising up out of the ground. 

_Something happened over there. I think I see the control booth—_

Before he could finish his thought, a bolt of lightning struck the now towering speaker. From pulling the ice pick up, the speakers were now taller than the bird cage. 

Aiba hummed. “You’ve redirected the lightning to not fall onto the cage, but instead to the speakers. Impressive, Date. Our next step must be to remove the bird cage.” 

_I know! But first, let’s check out the control booth._

He directed Aiba to walk to the newly appeared control booth underneath the speakers. She had to step around growing piles of snow on the ground. At least it looked normal. No uncontrollable shaking, no spontaneous lightning, but he couldn’t quite see into the windows of the booth. They looked blacked out from the inside. 

_Well, let’s open it up._ He muttered. 

She tilted her head, sorta like a dog. “What is your plan once I am inside?”

_It’s a control room. Maybe we can do something once we’re inside._

“I do not think it will be that easy.” Despite what she said, Aiba still grabbed the handle (fortunately, she could actually touch the handle the first time around) and opened the door. Instead of a regular room the door opened up to a bright light hiding anything from view. As soon as it was open all the way, the light reached out from the doorway and blinded the both of them before they could even say a word. 

It took a few moments for their eyes to adjust (the bane of having Date there, he supposed. He wasn’t immune to things like bright lights), but when they did neither of them were really surprised to not see the inside of a control room. They were in a void of darkness, with nothing but a hole in the dark miles above them to let them see. 

“I do not see an exit.”

_But look behind you, Isn’t that suspicious?_ Aiba turned around to see the light from above being cast onto two identical bird cages. They were the exact same except for what they held inside. The cage to the left held a scattered and torn photograph. He couldn’t see what was on it. The light from above was shining too much to see. The cage on the right kept a dozen balloons from flying off into the sky, with one popped balloon lying on the ground. _Let’s look at the two bird cages Aiba._

“I agree Date. However, those are not bird cages.”

_Uh, no. Those are definitely bird cages. I’ve seen them in Renju’s house before, and he told me that Shoko owned birds. They even have the ring on top to hang it somewhere. You know, like a bird would want._

“I understand your confusion, these are not commonly sold in stores. But like I said, they’re not cages for avian animals. From my research they are most commonly used for—” Aiba stopped talking. He could feel her eyes widen in some sort of realization. 

_...what Aiba? What are they used for?_

Date wished that he could actually look Aiba in the eyes right now, instead of sharing a consciousness with her. “...they’re most commonly used in the trafficking of creatures too dangerous to keep on a leash. Supernatural creatures, judging by the silver inlays.” 

No wonder he didn’t recognize it on sight, they do resemble bird cages quite a bit. But after she pointed it out, Date could definitely see how they could contain many more animals than just birds. 

_Wait, trafficking!? Supernatural creatures...Aiba, what does it mean that these cages are in Mizuki’s subconscious?_

“In order for something to appear in a person’s somnium, it must have been an important symbol in whatever memories they are trying to repress. Date, how large is Mizuki’s fully shifted draconic form?” 

That came out of nowhere. But he could come up with an answer right away. Mizuki was always excited to see her wings get larger and larger, so Date had to measure them at least once a month. _Uh, if I’m remembering correctly the last time I measured her wingspan it was around five feet long._

“And what size animal would you think could fit inside these cages?” Aiba slowly walked over to the two cages, not touching either of them. 

_Definitely not that big. Maybe something only four feet long, max. And it would be a tight fit even then._

Aiba didn’t have any sort of visible nervous ticks, but he somehow knew that she didn’t like what she was about to say. “Do you know how large Mizuki’s true form was when she was living with Shoko?” 

_Why does that mat—No._ Date was horrified. _Shoko wouldn’t..._

“I’m afraid to say it Date, but we know for a fact that Shoko wasn’t a dragon shifter. It might have been possible that—” 

_That’s not possible! Shoko wouldn’t treat Mizuki like—_ Like a caged animal, he wanted to say. But distantly he recalled all of his drunken late night conversations with Renju at the bar. He corrected himself. _Renju wouldn’t let that happen._

“We don’t know that Date.” Aiba pressed. “All we know is that Mizuki has experience, and from the look of it personal experience, with cages designed to hold dangerous creatures.” 

_Gods, that’s…_ He could almost believe it, and wasn’t that messed up? _If Shoko wasn’t already dead then I’d gut her out myself._

“Date…This is being recorded you know.” Aiba warned him. Yeah, he knew that was a pretty violent thing to say alright? It’s just, _his_ Mizuki was apparently kept in a cage. So often that it showed up in the depths of her subconscious mind! And he didn’t even suspect a thing. “Let’s investigate the cages.” 

He relented. _Fine, but after this I’m treating Mizuki to more than just stew when we get out._

Aiba stood in the middle of the two cages, unsure as to which she should investigate first. Date rolled his eyes and told her to go to the cage with the balloons inside of it. 

_How about you try lifting the cage?_

Aiba dramatically rolled her shoulders back. “This will be easy!” 

He appreciated her trying to lift the mood, as well as the cage. She groaned as the slowly raised the cage inch by inch. Once she saw the balloons flying out she chucked the cage away from them. It made a booming clang noise as it fell on the floor, and Aiba wiped the nonexistent sweat off her face. Her smirk dropped when she saw the cage start to fly away with the balloons though. 

“What! But it was so heavy…” She stared at the balloons and the cage flying off into the light, leaving only the single deflated balloon where the cage once was. 

_This was already a weird enough somnium to begin with...Try blowing up the balloon._

Aiba nodded and picked up the balloon from the floor. Without any hesitation she blew ungodly amounts of air into the tiny balloon. Before long, it was larger than she was. Out of nowhere, he got a pretty funny idea. It sorta looked like...

_It’s huge. Hey Aiba, I wish your—_

She immediately shut him down. “I know what you’re going to say, and the answer is absolutely not.” 

_But I didn’t even say anything yet!_

“That’s the point Date.” As they were talking, the balloon slowly floated up and away to the glowing spot of light in the ceiling. But before they could see it disappear, a harsh light filled their vision for the second time. Aiba winced, not entirely expecting it this time. 

As though what happened in the control booth never occurred, Date could hear the billowing wind and snowfall again. Aiba opened her eyes and they could see the cage surrounding the merry-go-round fly off into the sky. 

_...We got out?_

“Perhaps the balloon was the key.” Well, it was Mizuki’s somnium after all. She never had to say it, but Date has always seen her stare at racks of balloons whenever they happen to cross by them in the street. Once, Mizuki told him of a time when Shoko bought her a balloon, one of those nice helium ones, and she accidentally let it go outside. From what the girl said, she got scolded for hours by Shoko. If what Aiba said was true, then it was entirely possible that ‘scolding’ actually involved one of those cages they saw back in the control room...

Mizuki put the balloons in the cage so she wouldn’t have to go back in there with them. 

It was a painful memory for sure, and one he wasn’t so sure they should have made Mizuki relive. But he had to believe that what they were doing would cure her. They had to keep going. 

_Alright, now that the cage is off let’s go get Mizuki._

Aiba scoffed. “Do you not see the horses going a hurricane speeds?” He saw it alright, plus it was challenging to even hear her over the sound of the merry-go-round spinning so fast. 

_If you can stop time, you can go in right?_

“I can’t stop time while I’m moving!” 

_Oh, right. Then we gotta find a way to stop it from spinning._ The AI rolled her eyes, as if to say duh. 

It wouldn’t be too difficult, hopefully. They’d already established that certain objects were connected to each other, like the ice pick and the speaker pole. So, according to that logic all they needed to find was something else that was spinning. Aiba walked around the amusement park, circling the merry-go-round. He considered trying to explore the rest of the park, but from what he could see there wasn’t actually anything beyond the gate separating the horse themed ride from the other attractions. It makes sense that Mizuki would focus on the merry-go-round itself. 

They didn’t find anything of note until they turned a corner and saw...a giant floating panda bear head. Okay, he’s seen weirder. 

His first thought was to ask Aiba to put it on her head, but it was comically too large to even attempt that (although it was a dream...no Date! Focus on rescuing Mizuki!). The head was floating, but it was spinning just like the merry-go-round was, albeit much slower. 

_Aiba, you should kick it._

“Where did that come from? All right.” She releases a battle cry and kicks the panda head as hard as she can. Like many other things in this somnium it was much lighter than it looks, and it flew off into the sky. For a second, it seems to make the ride spin around faster. But luckily it too rises into the air and disappears into a dot in the storm clouds. All that was left was a hole where the merry-go-round used to be. “Date look!” 

There was something trapped underneath the merry-go-round. Aiba rushes over to the now abandoned circle, and he could make out a figure lying on the ground. Although the snow continued to fall outside the circle, the moment that Aiba stepped past the entrance gate it somehow got colder. The figure was lying down on a bed of ice, surrounded by tiles untouched by the snow in the air. 

Aiba gets closer to the figure and crouches down. It looks like a young woman. She’s completely naked, but Date doesn’t think anything more of it when he can see the large brutal stab wounds on her back partially covered by her long pink hair. Her skin was pale, too pale to still be alive. But it wasn’t a pale peach tone, it was blue. He would have passed it off on the cold if he couldn’t also see the fins jutting out of her hair and the scales on her legs. This was a siren, a murdered siren by the looks of it. 

Their gaze is brought to the woman’s face, and he finds it eerily familiar. It doesn’t take him more than a second to recognize her face. _Iris!?_

What was Iris of all people doing in Mizuki’s dream? Date had so thoughtlessly thought of the body as dead, but if it was the same girl that he saw a while back…

Aiba gingerly touches the body's (Iris’?) face. “She appears to be frozen.” 

_What the hell is going—_

“KYAAA!” A scream rings out through the park. Date can’t pinpoint the source of the voice, because it’s coming from all around them. But he would know that scream anywhere.

_Mizuki...What is this?_ He asks, not expecting to be answered. 

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Another voice yells. It sounds slightly distorted, like it’s coming from a speaker. It takes him longer to put that voice to a face, but the second he does he can feel anger boiling inside of him. 

“I’m sorry, I’m s-sorry! I’m sorry!” Mizuki wails. 

“Why do you never keep quiet!? Is this fun for you? Giving your mother a hard time!?” 

“That hurts, it hurts! P-please stop! I’m sorry!” That bitch was—

“Why are you here?” Shoko sounds like she’s had a drink or two, but she wasn't so drunk that she didn’t know what she was doing. What she was doing to _Mizuki._

Mizuki cries out again in pain. He can hear the desperation in her voice. “I’m sorry...I’m sorry!” 

“If you weren’t here, everything would be fine!” Date can’t hear the slaps or the hits that he knows are happening in this memory. He knows, intuitively, that Mizuki was in trouble. She wasn’t safe with Shoko. 

“‘m sorry…” Mizuki’s voice cracks, finally giving into the pain and weakening off at the end. This was so different from the strong and confident girl that he knows. His heart yearns to bring her into a hug, but Mizuki isn’t actually here. 

Shoko continues yelling, unaware of how much Date is ready to resurrect her just so he can kill her himself. “Apologizing means nothing! Why don’t you fight back like the animal that you are!?” 

Mizuki doesn’t respond. 

“Say something! Don’t make me into the bad guy here!” 

“But—” Mizuki tried to stand up for herself. She must already know that this behavior isn’t right, that what Shoko was doing is wrong. She’s a smart girl that’s for sure. 

“What’s that look, huh!?” Shoko yells at her daughter. Something must have happened there that isn’t caught in this recording, because both of them are silent for a moment. 

“Ow! I’m sorry!” But then Mizuki cries out in pain again. “I’m sorry!”

Shoko’s panting, like she just ran a marathon. He and Aiba have no context for what happened, but Date can make an educated guess. She hit Mizuki, and not for the first time either. He had always suspected something more than what Renju was willing to tell him, but this was horrific. 

“It’s all your fault! You…” Whatever it is Shoko is about to say, Date knows it will be the reason why they’re being shown this memory now of all times. “I wish you had never been born!”

Then the speakers went silent. There was no sound aside from the howling of the wind and snow. The blizzard was calm while the voice of Shoko and Mizuki were talking, but as soon as they stopped the storm kicked back up with a vengeance. The center of the ring they were in was kept clear of the raging snowstorm but outside it was looking less like a dream and more like a nightmare by the second. 

Aiba broke the silence. “That was Mizuki’s voice, and…”

_Damn, what is exactly going on here?_ He mentally sighed, not having the willpower to unpack all that he just heard without having control of his own body to punch something. But out of the corner of his eye… _Aiba watch out!_

Out from the clouds above them he spotted the merry-go-round. And it was coming down fast! Aiba had to dive roll out of the way of the falling amusement park ride. It landed on the ground and sent dust and snow flying everywhere. 

Aiba stood up on shaky legs. “I was about to become a pancake.” 

_Good thing this isn’t a bed and breakfast._

“That frozen Iris does intrigue me.” Aiba said to herself. 

_But Mizuki comes first._ He emphasized. 

Fortunately, after the merry-go-round fell down it stopped spinning. Now it was calm as Aiba walked up the steps to find the center column of the ride already open, and Mizuki sitting down inside. Date urges her to run up to her, but she stops and puts her hand on the glass pane separating them from Mizuki. She’s sitting on the floor like she was in the real Bloom Park, but she’s hiding her face in her legs. 

“She’s still emotionally vulnerable, I see.” Aiba crouches down to her level, keeping her hands on the glass as she does so. The AI stares at Mizuki. “I'm not sure what I should tell her.” 

_Tell her all the things that I want to tell her._ The things that he couldn’t tell her right now, because Aiba was the only one who took a physical form in somnium. 

“Like how you want to punch her mother in the face?” 

_No of course not! Nice things, Aiba. You can do that, right?_

Aiba sighes, but resolutely focuses all her attention onto the young girl in front of her. “Mizuki, can you hear me?” 

She doesn’t respond. It reminds him so much of how she is in reality too. She’s lifeless, holding onto her knees with a death grip but refusing to look up at Aiba. _She needs safety right now_ , Date thinks. Something to hold onto that won’t slip out of her grasp. 

“We will protect you, Mizuki. We will always be there for you. So, it’s alright now.” Aiba held onto the rim of the glass, still trying to get a reaction out of Mizuki. He can’t take this for much longer, seeing Mizuki like this. 

Date thinks, and he comes up with an idea on the spot. _Hey, do you think we can use that speaker? Maybe she needs to hear her mother’s voice._

“Of course not, Date! How dense can you be?” Aiba scolds him. 

_Why not? She’s obviously looking for reassurance from her mother! Otherwise why would her voice have appeared like that?_ Date snips back. 

“Yes, she needs guidance from a parental figure in her life. But from the fragment of a memory we heard she’s not in a mental state appropriate to hear that from her mother. She needs another parental figure. And who might that be, Date?” 

If he had control of his hands right now he would throw them up in the air. _Well, I don’t know! Renju?_

At this point Aiba is yelling at him. Or rather, she’s yelling to the wind, since Date isn’t physically there with her. “It’s you, Date! She needs you to be there for her!” 

As if in response, Mizuki raises her head after Aiba stopped yelling. They can’t hear anything through the glass, but he thinks he sees Mizuki mouthing ‘Date’. 

“She needs you, Date. Not Renju, and most certainly _not_ Shoko. You.” 

_Shit, I can’t actually go to her though Aiba...I’m not the one here._

“Let’s use the speaker Date. Then you can talk to her.” 

_Sounds like a plan._ Date guides Aiba to the tall speaker pole just next to the stairs of the merry-go-round. As they approach the speakers, he could vaguely hear sobbing coming out from the microphone on the control panel. It must connect inside the column then, or inside of Mizuki’s heart. She must be terrified on the inside, regardless of the image that she’s trying to project on the outside. 

Aiba presses a button on the panel, and let’s Date take control of their shared voice. He is (but probably shouldn’t have been) surprised to hear his own voice come out of Aiba’s mouth. “Mizuki, I know I don't usually say this. Hell, I don’t think I’ve ever told you this. But…”

“I love you Mizuki. I’m so glad that I get to share my life with you, that you get to grow up with me and Aiba. Please, can you open up to me, too?” Date’s voice wavers at the end, not willing to admit how much it hurt knowing that Mizuki didn’t know that he loved her. 

He needs to tell her more often, he needs to be there for her more and he knows that. But he’s trying now, and that’s all that matters. 

Aiba steps away from the speaker, and he can hear the sniffles slowly stop. Then, everything stops. The wind goes silent, the snow stops midair, and everything is quiet. Until as soon as it started, Aiba jumps at the sound of breaking glass. 

_Was that…?_

Aiba doesn’t wait for him to ask and runs back up the steps of the merry-go-round to see Mizuki standing in front of the column. Behind her was the broken remains of the glass panel. She’s crying, and tears won’t stop running down her face. 

_Please, can I hug her Aiba?_

“Of course.” Aiba slowly walks towards Mizuki, and wraps her arms around the girl’s shaking shoulders. Date can feel hesitant arms wrap themselves around Aiba’s back, and Mizuki starts crying in earnest. 

Time starts back up again. They can hear the wind rushing back and forth through the park, and the snow must be at least a foot tall by now. But this time it felt different. This time, it felt like a release, like Mizuki was accepting the fact that Shoko was dead and would never be coming back. It would take time for it to sink in, as did all things. But eventually, everything would be fine. They needed to let the storm roll through before the sun could shine again. 

Almost too quiet to hear under all the sudden noise, was the humm of a cell phone ring tone. It was to that noise that Date felt himself drift off into nothingness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow this was the longest chapter yet by far!! and it took far too long to get this pumped out. So I hope you enjoy this one!!! It was this chapter that added the canon divergence tag to this fic lol. I couldn't bear to keep Mizuki mute for much longer, and the way the game handed her gaining her voice back in the Iris run doesn't do her relationship with Date justice imo. So, I'm starting to combine the Mizuki and the Resolution routes now, whoops? Plus Shoko is presented in a much more negative light here mostly cause of Date's overprotective instincts, but again Mizuki's whole child abuse situation isn't really talked about in depth, I wanted to explore more of how that may have changed if Mizuki was a dragon shifter and Shoko wasn't. 
> 
> also! since this chapter was such a doozy, there won't be a new update next week. yes I know, it's terrible but I've been pretty consistent for the past month and a half so far, so I'm giving myself a bit of a break! Self care!! ;D


	8. Scales of Fate

**Saturday. 4:32 PM.**

Date wakes up with a gasp in the psync chair, and he’s out of the seat as soon as the visor automatically comes off of his face. His first steps are uncertain as he almost stumbles across the cables that litter the ground around the psync machine. He immediately walks over to the other side where he knows Mizuki will be. 

There she is, too caught up in the feeling of waking up from a psync to really notice his presence for a few moments. But then Mizuki’s eyes slowly, painstakingly open up. They’re not as dull as they were when they first got into the psync, and Date can see her tail swish around on the side of the chair. Her extra dragon limbs were always more active when they would appear on her body, probably to make up for lost time, he thought. 

He takes a moment to calm his breathing and he put his hand on her right shoulder. “Are you...okay?” 

To his immediate relief, she responds to him verbally. “Date…” she whispers. 

Her voice is hoarse from unuse, her eyes dart around the room in suspicion, but she was _reacting._ That was the important part. As if she suddenly had a realization, Mizuki’s eyes widened even further than they already were and she jumps out of the psync chair to hug him. She yells out his name and he enthusiastically returns the favor. God, it hasn’t even been more than a full day since he’s last heard her speak, but it still makes him feel a whole hell of a lot better just to hear her voice again. 

Date almost falls backwards with the additional weight of the young girl and her large wings that also decide to wrap around him, but he somehow manages to stay standing. He hears the sound of the automatic door from the observation room open up and the unmistakable sound of heels on the metal floor. 

Boss looks just as relieved as he feels. “Looks like she can talk again.” 

The weight of her words take a while to sink in, and Date resolves to hug Mizuki for a couple more seconds before he reluctantly pries her wings from their chokehold on his torso. Few words are exchanged between them (mostly asking if each other was alright, repeatedly might he add) as they make their way back up to the main observation lab. Mizuki might not have had to hold onto Date’s side the entire way up, but he lets her get away with the excuse that ‘the psync tired her out’. 

The silence almost lets his thoughts get out of hand though. Neither he nor Aiba can entirely shake the dread that came with seeing Iris’ dead body inside of Mizuki’s somnium. Plus, they have to confirm with the girl what they saw in the dream world along with what they already knew from the investigation. 

Date had to make a quick decision, and his instincts told him what to do. He made sure that Mizuki was settled down in a comfy chair before he went to the corner of the room. _Aiba, call Iris. It’s urgent._

_Why the rush?_ The AI asked. Like she wouldn’t already know the answer. 

_Please, just call! I have a bad feeling about all of this._

He immediately hears the sound of a phone’s dial up ringtone inside his head. Luckily, it connects not before long. 

“Hello?” It’s a bit disorientating to hear another voice inside his head that wasn’t Aiba, but he quickly collects himself. 

“This is Kaname Date from the MPD. I met you earlier today?” He must look crazy here, introducing himself to the wall. But Boss and Pewter would know what he was doing, so the only person who would think he was crazy would be Mizuki. Actually, she already thinks he’s crazy. So that’s nothing new. 

“Oh, Date! The Abyss investigator!...Is something wrong?” Iris’ voice was enthusiastic, if not hesitant at his sudden decision to call her. 

He cuts right to the chase. “Where are you right now?” 

She hums. “I’m at home right now.” 

“Okay, don’t go anywhere.” Date can hear an almost authoritative tone in his voice. Almost like the voice he uses when Mizuki does something stupid and he needs to tell her to cut it out. “Lock the door and stay at home.” 

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Can you tell me why?” 

“Who cares why!?” It was an obvious deflection, but his concern for Iris’ well-being was overriding those thoughts right now. Aiba was surely shaking her non-existent head at him. He changes tactics. “This is a direct order from the police.” 

_You mean a personal protection order._ Aiba chimes in. He mentally scoffs at her, yes he means a personal order. He hopes that Iris doesn’t know the difference. 

Despite the clear hesitation in her voice, Iris says, “Okaaay…But if I do, will you play ShovelForge with me tomorrow?” 

“No.” Date responds. 

Iris doesn’t give up. “Then go on a date with me! If you promise me we’ll go on a date, I’ll stay home and not say a peep! If you don't...I’ll wander around the city dragging a heavy suitcase!” 

_She really doesn’t know the danger that she’s in, does she?_

_Presumably, that is because you irrationally decided to call a young girl after only just meeting her to tell her that she needed to stay inside of her home for fear of some unknown threat._

_I know Aiba, but it’s not like I can just tell her over the phone that I saw her dead body in a dream world, can I?_

He takes a deep breath to calm himself. This would be a terrible decision in the long run…”All right, understood.” 

_Understood?_ The disgust in her voice was audible. 

Iris meanwhile was ecstatic. “Great! Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!” 

“Fine.” He grunted. “Just don’t go outside, okay?” This is all to keep her safe, he just has to remember that, and ignore feeling like he was going to throw up at the thought of going on a serious date with a literal teenager. “If anything happens, call me immediately. My number is—” 

“I have it in my call history. See ya!” Iris hangs up on him without any sort of reassurance that she’ll actually listen to what he told her to do. Date hopes that she is at least a bit more cautious for the next few days. 

“What was that, a phone call?” Boss asks as he walks back over to where she and Pewter were trying to look like they weren’t watching over Mizuki like a pair of hawks. Mizuki to her credit, was twiddling her thumbs until she spotted Date. When he gets within an arm's length of her she smacks him with her wing. 

“Ow, what was that for Mizuki? I was just making a quick call.” 

Mizuki pouted. “By talking to yourself in the corner of the room, yeah right! Don’t think I haven’t noticed you talking to yourself like you’re crazy you weirdo!” She seems like she’s gotten a good enough grip on what’s happened for them to ask her a few questions. He purposely avoids directly responding to her claim that he was a weirdo, because she was right. To anyone else it did look like he was just talking to the wall. 

He and Boss alternate by asking her about last night, the NILE message, and about Ota’s presence at the scene. They don’t get much new information unfortunately, but Mizuki’s testimony would be important in getting this case to court ( _if it ever gets to that point,_ he sourly thinks). He runs out of things to ask Mizuki, and she looks exhausted. He’s never seen her with eyebags this deep before, and he resolves to stop asking her questions for now. 

“Boss, do you have any more questions?” He asks the demon. 

The woman lifts her gaze from Mizuki and thinks. “Right...There was something.” Boss walks down from the platform that the two of them were standing on and crouches down to be eye level with Mizuki. “Hey Mizuki. When we found you, you were holding the ice pick. Can you tell us why?”

Despite her obvious tiredness, Mizuki continues talking. “When I got there, the ice pick was…I-it was...It was s-stuck in my mom’s eye. I couldn’t think straight, I—The only thing I could think was that I had t-to get it out.”

Boss summarized. “So you panicked, and pulled it out.”

“Y-yeah…” Mizuki tries to hold back her sniffling. Date had to mentally hold himself back from comforting her, because that’s not what she needs right now when she’s trying to put on a brave face for Boss and Pewter. 

“And you held onto it when you hid in the column.”

“Yeah.” She sighs, sounding weary and distraught. Just like he promised, as soon as all of this is over with they’re definitely going to get some comfort food. 

Boss reluctantly goes on. “Just, one more question Mizuki. Can you answer it for me?” 

Mizuki not so subtly wipes a stray tear on her jacket sleeve. “Sure.” 

“This is very important. When you pulled out the ice pick, was Shoko’s eye still there?”

“I’m pretty sure it wasn’t.” She mutters. 

Boss gives Mizuki a small smile. “Thank you Mizuki. That was very helpful.” 

The woman slowly reaches out to hold Mizuki’s hand, and he can see out of the corner of his eye their tails intertwining together, one scaled and one deviled. Mizuki immediately relaxes at the touch, and also moves to place her wing on Boss’ arm. 

_Boss shines in moments like this._ She doesn’t hesitate to ask anything, but isn’t cruel about it. 

Aiba thinks for a second. Or, thinks as much as one of the most advanced supercomputers on the planet can take time to ‘think’. _Now we know for certain that Mizuki did not remove the victim’s eye._

_When we got to the scene it was definitely missing._ Date saw the vision on his left side get replaced by the view he had of Shoko’s corpse at Bloom Park. It still pained him to look at it, but he had to remember. For Mizuki’s sake. 

_And it has not yet been recovered. Therefore we can conclude that it has been removed from the scene._

Date walks over and gives Mizuki’s shoulder a light squeeze before conversing with Boss about what they knew. Their questioning eventually gets to the point that the two of them are referencing things that happened in Mizuki’s somnium, and she suddenly cuts their discussion off. 

“Can someone please explain to me what you’re talking about?! I get what Date said to me before I fell asleep, but I still have no idea what’s actually going on! And if this stuff has something to do with mom—I-I just…” Mizuki, who Date knows is a resilient girl, tears up again when talking about her mother. 

Boss’ demeanor softens. “Of course, Mizuki.” She turns to Pewter, who had until this point been pretending to type something in the computer in front of him. Date knew he was pretending cause he saw the monitor and he was playing a game of Snake. “Pewter, you can explain how psyncing works to Mizuki.” 

“A-are you sure?” Pewter asks, subtly closing down the game he was playing. 

“Positive.” Boss nods. Date can already see how much of a troublemaking duo Boss and Mizuki would be. His superior in this moment looked less like the demon that she was, and more like an angel. 

Pewter clears his throat and starts explaining to Mizuki how somnium works. “In a normal dream, the person experiencing the dream cannot remove themselves from it. Dreams are ‘first-person’ experiences. However, the circumstances are different during a psync. The psyncer, in this case Date, dives into the subjects mind, that would be you Mizuki, and experiences their subconscious thoughts.” 

At this point, Mizuki was hooked. She reverently stared at Pewter as he explained the psyncing process. “Think of it like watching a theater production. The subject is the author, director, and actor while the psyncer is the audience.” 

Date interrupts him before he can continue into the more technical aspects of everything. “So, there’s absolutely no chance of having a prophetic dream?” 

Pewter glances at Date with a confused look on his face, before he remembers. “Ah, the corpse you saw in somnium. You’re wondering if that was some kind of vision of the future.” Date nods, encouraging him to at least think about the possibility. “Well, let’s see. As a man of science I hesitate to believe in such things, yet there is undeniable proof that certain prophecies have come true in the past, depending on the seer. It is still highly unlikely. However, if it was a prophecy I would suggest the girl wear some kind of metal plate.”

Date let out a “huh” before he could stop himself.

“You saw her. She was stabbed countless times in the back.” Pewter continued to mutter to himself about getting some stab-proof armor. But Date’s attention shifted to Mizuki, who’s face went pale after Pewter started talking about the frozen Iris that he saw in her somnium. “Anyways, prophecies are simply not possible in reality.” 

Date offhandedly nods to Pewter, but keeps his eyes on Mizuki. She’s looking the other way, but he can see the tell tale signs of nervousness in the way that her wings are shuffling around the chair the was sitting in. His investigator instincts are screaming at him to ask her question after question (when did you see a dead body? Was that Iris’ dead body? How can you look at your friend every day and not see the vision of a corpse?), but he drops it. 

_Mizuki needs a break._ He declares to himself, and Aiba as well. 

“What about that ringtone that I heard while in the somnium?” Date could only vaguely remember it, underneath the sounds of the cold snowy air and breaking glass. “I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.” 

Pewter, just remembering that Mizuki was still here, asked her. “Did you hear a ringtone while you were at Bloom Park?” 

“Y-yeah, I think. But like Date said, I don’t have any idea where it was coming from.” 

“Thanks anyway, Mizuki.” Pewter easily took the girl’s explanation. Both he and Boss have developed a soft spot it seems, and that soft spot was the dragon shifter sitting right in front of him. 

Boss takes this moment to stand next to Date, intentionally cutting Mizuki out from his immediate line of sight, and by extension cutting her out from their conversation. He understood her reasoning, and it’s not like Mizuki knew about what exactly he saw in the somnium. But he’d have to apologize to her later, and he will. As soon as they get to the bottom of this. 

“So, prophecies huh? That’s why you called Iris.” Boss got a harsh look in her eyes. “But come on, Date. We don’t need to ask Mizuki anything else.”

“I know, a dream is just a dream. Doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with reality. But still, I just have this gut feeling…” Like Iris was in danger. 

_Date,_ Aiba sounds concerned. _Are you alright? Perhaps the psync is causing negative side effects._

_I hope that’s all it is._

“There must have been a phone somewhere on-site.” Boss suddenly says. 

“Wait, why? Because of the ringtone that I heard while in somnium? I don’t think CSI reported anything like that at the crime scene. They said they couldn’t find anything.” 

“Correct. And considering what you saw in somnium, there may be more to this than we have already discovered.”

He made up his mind. “I think I’ll go to Bloom Park again.” At his words, everyone looked up at him. Pewter didn’t look shocked, but he could tell that he wasn't necessarily in favor of it either. Boss looked resolute, and nodded to him. But Mizuki, wasn’t really looking at him at all. Date could see the not-long dried tear tracks across her face, and he saw the darkness that hadn’t truly gone away even after she gained her voice back. 

_I can’t bring her back there. Maybe later, but not right now._

_Of course Date, Mizuki’s insulin levels have been negatively impacted by her sleep deprivation, despite the short amount of time that has passed since the discovery of the crime. It still happened in the middle of what should have been a normal sleeping schedule for her. I recommend that she be put to bed as soon as possible._

_Is that a hint of concern I hear from you, Aiba?_

_Please think, it was not only you who has been taking care of her for these past four years._

_Touche, although she still likes me more._

_Cheater! You won’t even tell her that I exist!_ If he could laugh out loud at their conversation without looking like a loonatic then he would, but for now he only let out a small smirk on his face. 

“The phone might be there, it might not. I just want to be sure.” Boss, being used to his attention drifting from mental conversations to verbal ones, wasn’t phased by his out of the blue resolution. 

Mizuki on the other hand…”Date? You’re going back there?” She stands up from her chair and walks over to him on wobbly knees. It seems like the psync did a lot more to her than it did to him. He catches her before she can trip and fall over. 

“Yeah Mizuki, I’m heading back to Bloom Park.” 

Boss looks at him questioningly. “You do know that you’re not going to find a frozen corpse underneath the merry-go-round in reality, right?” 

Mizuki tenses in his grip, as though she was preparing for one of them to finally ask her the questions that were burning in their brains, but instead Date adjusts his arms to accomodate for the young dragon shifter in his hold. “We won’t know for certain until I get a chance to go back there.” 

He rubs his hands over Mizuki’s back, right in between her wing bones where he knows she loves it. As he expected, she relaxes at his touch. He decides to ignore the small pout on her face as she huffs out a breath of ice cold air right onto his neck. 

Date feels a full body shiver crawl down his back. “Alright, sheesh kiddo! Just because you got your voice back doesn’t mean you get to use your dragon breath on me, got it?” 

Mizuki chuckles, but it isn’t full of humor like her laughs usually are. “Stupid Date. Thinking you can go back there and leave me here all alone again.” 

He slumps. “Mizuki, you know I can’t take you back to Bloom Park.” 

“Of course you can!” She turns around in his arms to look him in the eyes. “I can help! I can do something, rather than just sitting here and thinking about everything that’s happened! There must be something—”

“Mizuki.” He commands, making sure not to let his voice get loud, just assertive enough to get her attention. “There’s nothing that you can do to advance the investigation right now. Going back there won’t change anything, especially when you’re tired out from the psync.” 

“But-” She sighs, and lets her head fall onto his shoulders. “Fine, but remember your promise!” 

“What promise?” He asked. 

“Stew, duh! You said that you would take me out to get stew when you were done with this case!” 

He laughed, “Right, right. I promise that as soon as everything is over with we can go get that stew that you love.” 

Mizuki seemed satisfied with that promise, and he was free to head back to Bloom Park (but not before making sure that Boss would look after her while he was gone. He didn’t have time to drop her off back home after all). Date got his bearings back as he exited the psync observation room, finally able to take a moment to think about everything that has happened in the case so far. 

The longer and longer it took to solve even the small details about the investigation, the more sure Date felt that something fishy was going on. People don’t just show up dead tied to a merry-go-round without some sort of larger than life motive. It hit home for him much more than any other case had before, because this time Shoko was the victim. It didn’t help that he just had to psync with his charge (roommate? At this point, he had to admit that Mizuki wasn’t just a roommate to him anymore). He was used to being able to emotionally detach himself from the plights of the victims of his cases, which just _wasn’t possible_ this time. 

_Date,_ Aiba whispered to him. _I sense an increase in norepinephrine in your bloodstream, is everything okay?_

_I’m fine Aiba, just...Thinking about everything that’s happened._ He hasn’t gotten a full night’s sleep in two days, which honestly isn’t the longest he’s gone without rest, but it must have been the sterile lights of the police station and the gloomy atmosphere outside getting to him. 

_Remember to pace yourself Date. I believe there is a package of unopened energy bars in the back of the car that you would eat._

_Yeah, they’re unopened cause you bought them yourself! They’re disgusting to eat Aiba, not like you have the taste buds to know that._ Date wasn’t in the mood to take her sass right now. 

But when he got into his car outside of the ABIS Headquarters, he reached behind him and snagged one of the energy bars from the back seat anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so Mizuki and Boss weren't suppose to really interact this much during this chapter, but whoops. Boss took one good look at the monitor during the somnium and said sike I'm Mizuki's mom now. That's not to say that Date isn't projecting some strong concerned dad vibes here too lol 
> 
> late upload I know, sorry!! But now that I'm back home and my life is less hectic hopefully another long chapter will come out next week too! 
> 
> ps, guess what the pun in this chapter title is :3 (it's sorta obvious but I'm proud of it)


	9. Cyclical Investigations

**Saturday. 7:53 PM.**

The ride to Bloom Park didn’t take long, but to Date it felt like an eternity. Maybe it was due to the sight of clouds in the sky telling him that rain was going to come to Tokyo yet again. Maybe it was Aiba’s noticeable silence inside his head. But maybe, it was the radio spouting clinical information regarding the just recently published Shoko Nadami murder. 

“Autopsy reports revealed that her time of death was roughly 5:00 PM yesterday—”

Date bit off more of the terrible energy bar he held in his left hand, careful to keep his right hand and right eye on the road in front of him. 

“The MPD has expanded the scope of their investigation, and are encouraging anyone with any information to come forward.” _Yeah right_ , he thought. Not like anyone in the force actually expected someone to just pop up in the middle of their investigation with relevant information. It was mostly a publicity stunt to tell the public that the police were open to working one on one with the people. Nothing that actually impacted his investigation anyway. 

“In other news,” the radio continued. “At 6:10 PM today, on the outer circle of the capital city highway in Minato District, Tokyo; a traffic collision occurred, involving five cars and at least one truck.”

It was odd to think about it, but it made obvious sense that not everyone in the MPD would be working on the murder case right now. It’s not like the whole world stops if only one person dies. But damn, to him it sure felt like it should have. 

“As a result of the pile-up, one man was sent to the hospital in a critical condition. Six other individuals were treated for minor injuries. MPD has arrested the driver of the truck suspected to have caused the accident through his negligence. The investigation is currently ongoing.” At least this explained the noticeable absence of officers hanging around the MPD Headquarters today, even in the supernatural division. Date thought it had been Boss’ influence which kept Mizuki hidden in the basement for so long, but this accident must have certainly helped keep it under the covers. It was likely that only his personal involvment in Shoko’s murder was what kept him on this investigation instead of sent to the accident. 

Aiba was silent as she charged in the steering wheel of his car, preparing for another long night of investigating Bloom Park. 

They arrived just past eight o’clock. Tokyo’s shining neon lights were just barely hidden by the abandoned park’s large trees. The glowing neon police tape was one of the only things illuminating the area. It wasn’t difficult to go back to the scene of the crime, as there was only a single policewoman patrolling the area. 

“Good evening Special Agent Date.” She greeted him. Aiba scanned her with suspicion, and told him that the small chain necklace that the woman was wearing held her veil. So, that’s how she knew who he was without him even having to pull out his ID. “Your reason for coming to the scene this late in the evening?” 

“Gotta finish some last minute investigation. Can’t wait till morning.” He smoothly lied. Not that it was a true lie anyways, but he wouldn’t be able to get any sleep tonight anyway. Might as well make it productive. Date was let in without a fuss, and soon he was standing in the remains of what was becoming a very familiar merry-go-round. He was all alone. Well, except for Aiba. 

Without hesitation, he could feel the projection starting up on his left eye and before he knew it Aiba was standing right in front of him. Date would never truly get used to the sight of her sci-fi like form standing in the real world. She seemed to fit right in when they explored the somniums, but now that they were in the actual Bloom Park, Aiba stood out like a sore thumb. Good thing no one else could see her at least. 

“Why are you here now, of all times?” He asked out loud, not caring that he probably looked like a crazy person. Hey, at least he was alone this time. 

_I just thought I would project myself. You seem lonely._

Choosing to ignore that last bit, he changed the topic. “Remind me again how and why you’re doing this.” 

_I am overlapping the image your left eye processes with augmented reality. You can’t see me through your right eye, only your left._

“Sure, but you can’t just pop into my eyeball without permission!” There must be some sort of barriers to weird AIs messing around with your brain and making you see things that aren’t real. 

_...You do realize I do that all the time, right?_

“Yeah, but you never look like this!” When Aiba stood in front of him now, she looked almost human. Of course, if you ignored the flowy red veins things growing out of her head and her doll anatomy. “What about your other form, the one that looks like a hamster, or teddy bear?” 

_I was bored last night..._ She paused, and he motioned for her to continue. Aiba wouldn’t look him in the eyes (or eye, he guessed), _I thought you would like it._

“Why would I like it?” Date wanted to roll his eyes, but they’ve had this conversation already before. 

_Well, I did attempt to shape myself to your preferences._

“If you could do that, then you can change it too!” Then, a brilliant idea popped into his head. “Be Reika from Tiefblau!” 

_I will not!_ Aiba pouted, and she sorta reminded him of Mizuki at that moment. What could he say, he was a fan of anime sometimes. He chuckled, not really expecting her to ever agree to it in the first place. Aiba was a fully functioning artificial intelligence, but she was just over four years old now. It made her childish demeanor sometimes make sense. God, Date really was dealing with two troublesome children in his household, wasn’t he. 

He happened to glance at the moon and noticed how high in the sky it was. The night was definitely wearing on, and he actually needed to do some investigation while he was here at the park. 

“About the ringtone I heard in Mizuki’s somnium,” He started. “It was somewhere around here, right?” 

_Affirmative._ Aiba said. 

“Then it’s source must also be here. The phone should be nearby.” 

_However, I do not know if it actually exists. Dreams consist of memories, but that does not mean that they perfectly reflect reality. In fact, it is much more common that what occurs in dreams is distorted._ Aiba wasn’t wrong there. 

_For example, the events witnessed in the last somnium were nothing short of absurd, exaggerated, or otherwise warped. Clearly they do not represent exactly what happened in reality._

“Mizuki didn’t necessarily hear it at Bloom Park, is what you’re trying to say. I understand that, but right now it’s our only lead.” 

_As I mentioned earlier, I cannot say for certain if there was a phone here. If there is, then it must be well hidden. CSI has already thoroughly searched the area, and Abyss is currently processing the magical signatures in the area. They have not discovered anything yet._

Damn lab results take forever to process, it’s like the case itself will be dropped by the time that they find out what was in those samples. 

He muttered. “Well hidden, huh...Maybe it’s somewhere that you can’t see with the naked human eye.” 

Aiba immediately knew what he was asking for, and the hologram (augmented projection?) flickered out of his view and the left side of his eyesight was replaced by x-ray vision. He closed his right eye out of habit. The off-green vision made it difficult for him to tell what was where due to the loss of depth perception, especially with all of these fake horses around…

But as soon as he realized he could see inside the horses, he spotted something in one of them. His vision zoomed into the horse immediately to his right. He could see a small metal rectangle sitting inside the horse’s stomach. 

_It appears to be a smartphone._

“I knew it was in the horse!”

_Don’t lie to me, you were the one who doubted my assessment!_

He smirked, but he felt his mouth turn to a frown when he realized, “But, how do we get it out?” 

_I cannot find any seams or weaknesses in the horse’s body. The neck does not attach either. The only way to reach the inside, is through the hole in the mouth of the horse._

“Yeah well, it’s not like I can just stick my hand down that thing’s mouth.” Date argued. He was just about to propose smashing the horse to get to it when Aiba stopped him. 

_I might be able to fit inside. One moment._

“Oh don’t you dare—” But he was once again interrupted by the terrible feeling of his eye popping out of its socket. Ew, at least Aiba didn’t land on the ground this time, he thought. The squishy mass of...whatever she was made of slipped inside of the horse’s open mouth. He couldn’t see her moving, but he saw through his connection to her that she found the phone without too much trouble. 

Aiba triumphantly emerged from the horse and held the smartphone above her head. “I got it!” She yelled, the voice coming from the tiny speaker that he assumed was inside of the actual mechanical eyeball. 

“Good job Aiba.” He praised her, gently taking the phone from her surprisingly strong grip. He glanced over it. The phone was nondescript, didn’t have a case, and wasn’t password protected. He found the phone number without much trouble. “Is this a rental phone? Aiba, look into the number.” 

After giving her the number, Aiba sat down on top of the horse’s head and ran it through their systems. “The true owner is unknown. It is registered under a false identity.”

“Come on…” he whined. That’s how it always was, how come no one could just use their own damn phone. 

“Date, I recommend that you look at the device’s history.”

“Good idea.” He searched through the phone’s meager apps to find the call history, but found… ”Nothing. It’s gone, there’s no outgoing call history.” 

“Is there an incoming history?” Aiba asked. 

He switched the tabs to find just that. The screen was again, surprisingly blank. But it at least had something more than the outgoing call history. “There’s only one call. 9:02 pm yesterday.”

Aiba perked up. “Mizuki and Ota discovered the corpse at approximately 9:00 pm.”

“Then Mizuki must have heard this phone!” So, it was all a single connected memory after all. 

She nodded. “That would connect to what we experienced in somnium.” 

He looked at the screen again. “The caller’s name isn’t displayed. The number isn’t in their contacts. In fact, there aren’t any contacts. It makes sense for a rental phone, but there are no numbers at all.” Date tapped out of the call app and checked the other ones installed on the phone. No one was logged in to the email app. No internet browsing history. Nothing. 

Just the call at 9:02 pm. 

“Can you check where the call is from?” Date asked Aiba, giving her the other phone number. 

After a moment of thinking she said, “This number is also from a rental phone. No owner is registered.”

Date huffed, and tried to get into the other apps on the phone when suddenly, the screen turned off. He angrily pressed the power button, but all he got was an icon of an empty battery. 

“Aw, the battery died.” Going from their previous guesses, the phone must have been inside of the horse for at least the past day. Honestly, he’s sorta surprised that it’s lasted this long. He reluctantly grabs a small plastic baggie out from his jacket pocket and puts the phone inside it. He labels it with a marker for the investigation later and puts it away. Sure, this definitely wasn’t standard procedure stuff, but it's not like he wants to make the other investigators’ lives harder either. 

“What about that phone number I just gave to you Aiba, the unknown rental phone?” 

“Yes, I saved it to my memory, what about it?”

Date took a deep breath. “Call it.”

The small gel creature nods to him, and he hears the ringing of a phone in his ear. It connected after only the second ring, which surprised him. Whoever was on the other end must know the owner of this phone, or even be an accomplice. The line is silent. 

“Uh…” Date didn’t really expect to get this far, in all honesty. “I’m Kaname Date with the Metropolitan Police Depart—”

“Are you an idiot!?” Aiba yells out, and before he can even finish his sentence the phone hangs up. “What kind of low IQ ignoramus calls a suspicious number and says they are from the police!?” 

“Hey! Cut me some slack, I was panicking! I just said the first thing that came into my head!”

“You’re the one who told me to call in the first place!”

“I didn’t think it would actually work…” Disappointing was an understatement. “Can we try calling again? I’ll be ready this time I swear.” 

“If you’re sure.” Aiba dutifully connected him again, and the ring immediately stopped to give him an automated message saying that the phone was no longer in service. 

“Damn, the call got denied.” That was fast, it hadn’t even been a full minute since the last call. Whoever was on the other end must be paranoid. Reasonably so, considering their involvement in this case. 

“There is nothing to be gained from your wasted opportunity, Date. Let’s look at other alternatives.” 

“Yeah, you’re right. Okay, why was the phone in the horse in the first place?” Someone must not have wanted this phone to be found. It’s not like they were planning on scouring this place with metal detectors. Without him here, this phone would have never been found. 

“Unknown. But it does appear to be deliberate. Did the culprit do this, or someone else? And for what specific purpose? There is too little evidence to confirm either way.” 

“Alright, what cell tower did the phone call ping to? That might give us a hint as to where the recipient was.”

“Near Third Street, Shinjuku.” Aiba searched. 

“Now that’s a wide range.” Not that Shinjuku was terribly far from where they currectly were, but they wouldn’t be able to make a trip there today either. At least it was still within Tokyo. “Can you at least tell if they called from a smartphone?” 

Aiba nodded, “They did. I can tell from the number.” 

“Any GPS?”

“The phone is likely capable of that function.” Most smartphones nowadays had GPS installed, it was required by law. “However it appears to have been disabled. The power also appears to be off.” 

No warrant would be able to track a turned off phone. Date knew that if they could find the owner then they would ask for a warrant, but without knowing its exact location that would be impossible. 

“I cannot connect from any line, because you blew it.” If she could glare in this form, he was sure he would be held under her intense stare. But as it was, he was glaring back at his own disembodied eyeball. He instinctively growled at her. Yes, he knew that he blew it, but gods did she have to blame him for every single thing that went wrong in this investigation!? It’s not like he was an omnipresent computer like she was!

Aiba’s lone eye widened, and he could feel anger coursing through his veins. Was Aiba afraid—

No, no he just has to get a hold of his emotions. He can’t let himself get distracted from the task at hand. _Focus, Date._

“Alright, just who was it that I called?” Date sigh, rubbing his temples. He was getting a headache from all this roundabout evidence. As soon as they find something new to look into, they get slammed with another roadblock. It’s almost like something was trying to stop them from solving this case. But this wasn’t new to him. He’s worked with cases just as, if not more difficult than this one. Date just has to believe that the case will get solved. Eventually. 

Aiba quickly regains her regal pose, despite it not fitting her tiny chubby form. “Probably someone involved in the incident. They hung up as soon as they heard you mention the police. Then refused further incoming calls, making them highly suspicious.” 

If that’s all that even she had to say on the matter, then they were truly in the dark about who this person was. Despite the fact that they found what they came here to find. Date couldn’t help but feel like they hadn’t accomplished anything by coming here, aside from giving him a headache that is. But he can’t bring himself to care much about it for some reason. It’s almost like his angry outburst took all of his emotional capacity for the night. 

“Let’s get going already.” He said, “There’s nothing more to find here.” 

“Where are we going?” She asks, already crawling back into his hands. “Iris’ house?” 

Date nods. “I’m curious just how much she’s going to listen to what I told her to do.”

“And about your ‘prophecy’? Absurd, it was nothing.”

“I sure hope so Aiba.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soo, i apologize for not having a chapter ready last week, school's been kicking me in the butt lately, and I'm thinking I'll switch to a bi-weekly posting schedule just to account for all of that stuff. On the plus side tho, the chapter lengths will get a bit more consistent!
> 
> (also, this fandom is pretty dead rn lol, I gotta support my fellow struggling content creators!!)


	10. Petals Falling into Place

**Saturday, 10:30 PM.**

Date stood in front of Iris’ house, or more accurately the Sagan residence, hesitating to push the doorbell. It was late into the night already. It was normal for him to be awake at this hour, but for a young girl like Iris it surely wasn’t healthy to stay up this late. 

Nevertheless, he saw the lights in the house downstairs turned on. So someone must be awake, and according to Iris herself a few hours before she was home alone. It was completely illogical to think that something had happened to her when he had already spoken to her not earlier that very day. 

But some feeling inside of him was urging him to check up on Iris, so before he could talk himself out of it he pushed the doorbell button down. He heard Iris’ voice yell out from somewhere in the house and he couldn’t stop his shoulders immediately relaxing at hearing her voice again. 

“Date!” Iris opened the front door with a wide grin on her face. 

“How are you, Iris?” He asked as he respectfully walked into the house. 

The girl chuckled, but didn’t sound all that genuine. “I’m hop-hop-hoppy-happy! You know, hop hop, rabbit goes hop. Why do you ask?” 

“Oh, well. You see…”

_Because I saw your dead body in a dream, Are you seriously going to tell her that?_

_Hush you._

“Nevermind. By the way, is your mom around?” 

“No, she left earlier. She got a NILE message from someone, and she looked excited to see whoever it was.” 

“Do you know where she went?” 

“Dunno. She didn’t tell me.” Iris thought for a moment. “But aren’t you way too early?” 

He was drawing a blank on what she was referring to. “Uh, early for what?” 

“The date silly! You promised me that we could play ShovelForge tomorrow! I kept my promise by staying home so you have to keep your promise to Date!” That brought back a memory that he didn’t want to be thinking about right now. But after she mentioned it he does remember having to promise a date with her in order to get her to stay home for the night. 

“Oh would you look at the time, I should be heading out.” 

_Smooth, Date._

“Whaat?” Iris whined. “But you only just got here!” 

“Yeah, I have some...work to do. Right, it's not like the investigation is going to solve itself.”

Iris got a pleading look in her eyes. “Then will you at least watch my stream at one?” 

“You’re going to be streaming online, at one in the morning?” After all the trouble he went through to not wake her up this late, she was really just going to be streaming long into the morning anyways. “You’re a young woman, you shouldn’t be staying up so late.”

“Geeze, you sound like an old man!” 

_It seems like Iris and I are in agreement then._

Iris waved her hand in a dismissive motion. “It’s fine, today’s just a personal stream not a work one. And tomorrow is Sunday!” 

He shook his head in frustration. “Neither of those are the issue!” 

“But please watch it, okay!? I’ll ask you about it on tomorrow’s date!” 

After trying (and failing) to dissuade Iris from ignoring a proper sleeping schedule, Date bid her his goodbyes and left the house without as much as taking his shoes off. He drove off into the night not entirely expecting to watch Iris’ stream tomorrow morning. What can he say, he hasn’t gotten a lot of sleep lately and he’s feeling tired at the wheel already. 

Aiba wordlessly took over control of the steering wheel once his head nodded off for the third time in a row. He could feel her concern through their shared mental connection, and he smirked. 

But just before he dozed off for good, Aiba gently spoke to him. 

_Date, I have been thinking._

“What, you thinking? Must be something important then.” He mumbled. 

_Not terribly so. I am glad that nothing bad happened to Iris._

“Yeah, so am I.” His thoughts were brought back to the moment that he couldn’t forget. THe moment when Iris told him she was going to die. It didn’t stand out all that much in comparison to the rest of her ridiculous behavior before. But now with the context of Mizuki’s somnium, there must have been something else there. 

Somehow, Mizuki saw Iris’ dead body, and it ended up in her somnium. But Iris herself was perfectly fine, complaining in her house about not being able to play a video game with him like nothing was wrong. 

Date wished that he had more clues to go off of. Yet, as he tried again and again to think of everything they had discovered, he felt more and more tired. He yawned, closed his eyes for a brief second, and before he knew it Aiba was mentally poking him and telling him that they were back at HQ. 

_Although I highly advise against this course of action, I made the assumption that you would want to go back and look over the evidence one more time._

“Thanks Aiba. Right as always.” 

He spent the rest of his night scouring over evidence files in an abandoned ABIS meeting room and going to bed in one of the sleep rooms provided exactly for times like this. It wasn’t just Date that used the long hours of the morning to get their work done, and with the way he’s been running around all day he hasn’t gotten a chance to actually compare field notes with the rest of the investigators. It was an extremely boring, but necessary part of his job as a member of the police. 

It was at times like this when he wished that he did actually have a phone so he could call Mizuki. Boss told him earlier that she sent the young girl home with someone, but she wouldn’t tell him exactly who it was that took her home. She must have thought it was funny, but Boss wouldn’t seriously put Mizuki in any sort of danger, and he trusted her with his life. So, just this once he let it slide. 

Date went to sleep that night thinking about case files and streaming sirens. 

At the time it may have felt worth it, but the next morning his back was killing him from sleeping on the thin mattress of the ABIS HQ sleep room. He reluctantly woke up and was out the door with a bagel in his hands by nine o’clock (a new record time). Aiba told him that Boss was in her office, so he made a beeline there, finishing his quick breakfast as he walked. 

He opened the door to spy Boss sitting on top of her desk like usual. Date didn’t bother with the pleasantries. “Anything new to report since last night?” 

Boss’ tail flicked in annoyance. “About Renju, yesterday I told you he vanished after questioning. Well, we found him.” 

That was certainly news to him. Date could help but ask, “Renju! Where did you find him?” 

She sighed. “At Central Hospital. He was brought there from a traffic accident. He’s unconscious and it’s not looking too good.” 

That couldn’t possibly, Renju was in a traffic accident...He thought about it and it at least made sense. The last they had heard of him was after he was brought into questioning and that left plenty of time for him to get anywhere in Tokyo with a car. But, suddenly he remembered something from last night. 

Aiba, probably by reading his thoughts, also came to the same conclusion. He didn’t resist as she popped out of his eye socket and stood in his hands. “Capital Highway.” 

Boss’ eyebrows shot up. “How’d you know?” 

“We heard the report on the radio last night.” Aiba said. Her squishy translucent form waddled from his hands over to the desk, and she took her usual spot sitting next to Boss. 

Date brought his now free hands to cover his face. “But to think that it involved Renju…” No, he can’t get distracted now, of all times. Date had an investigation to focus on first. The radio report said they gave enough manpower to the accident already, he didn’t need to get in the way just because another one of his friends happened to get a little too involved in his work life to be comfortable. 

“What came about from that rental phone we found at Bloom Park?” 

Boss easily accepted the change of topic. “I asked someone from the IT department to look into it. They found a few things. First, the owner was Shoko Nadami. Her face was registered in the phone’s facial recognition authentication.”

“Who called the phone?” Date asked. 

“Sorry, we don’t know that yet. They called from a burner phone, no name registered.” 

Aiba raised her tiny arm like she wanted to ask a question in school. “I can make a deduction based on this information. We know that the phone belonged to Shoko. Whoever it was made their call at 9:02 PM, after Shoko was killed.”

“Then we can make the assumption that whoever called the phone wasn’t the killer! They would have no reason to call the phone of the person that they just killed.” Date finished for her. 

Boss had a doubtful look on her face. “Maybe, but the culprit might have been trying to get Mizuki to call so they could bring her to the scene.” 

Date shook his head. “But why would they hide the phone? Then they would have left it somewhere easier to find than the inside of one of the horses.” 

“And to think that this is our only lead...The people at the main office are so incompetent.” The demon curled her mouth into an angry snarl, one that exposed the contempt she held towards those higher up in HQ. “But either way, our mysterious caller is suspicious. It’s especially telling that they blocked Date’s number and turned off the phone entirely.” 

“The blame lies entirely with Date.” Aiba stage whispered to Boss, not at all trying to hide her voice. “I suggest cutting his salary.” 

Date fumbled. “I’ll cut—your battery!” 

“Do it.” Aiba challenged him. Damn that tiny little sentient eyeball. “I’ll plug in somewhere.” 

Boss stopped their argument immediately. “Anyway, we have to identify the caller...If you don’t want your salary cut.” 

Well, now he knew who Boss’ favorite out of the two of them was. He sighed, knowing that if he didn’t agree then she would just have him do it regardless. That was how it worked with a demon, they always got what they wanted. At least Boss had positive intentions...most of the time. 

The phone was, like she said earlier, their only lead right now. And it was off getting analyzed by the other field agents, so Date was stuck trying to tie up loose ends here in the supernatural division of ABIS. After all, there wasn’t much you could do with magic to unlock a cell phone. 

“I know this is entirely off topic Boss.” Date said. “But whatever happened to Mizuki? You told me yesterday that she got sent home.” 

“Correct. After we had the on site doctor check her out, they approved her to go home. Don’t worry about her, she’s in safe hands.” Boss replied. He knew all of that already, but it didn’t stop his curiosity as to who could have taken her home. 

“Then what should I be doing, Boss?” This case has him pulled in so many different directions that it was difficult to keep track of it all. 

Boss hummed. “You can go talk to Renju, for starters.”

Ah Renju, he’s currently at Central Hospital. But, “He’s still asleep, isn’t he?” 

“Smack him across the face and wake him up. He’s a dragon shifter, anything you can do to him won’t seriously hurt him. Plus, you’re his friend. He’ll understand.” She said bluntly. 

He whined. “Come on, Boss.” 

“Nope, Date, You’re going to see Renju eventually whether you like it or not. Aiba, make sure he actually visits him for me, okay?” 

“You got it Boss.” Aiba smugly said. The small robot then leapt off the table and crawled into Date’s hands. 

“Fine. Let’s go, Aiba.” Date gave in, because a not so small part of him actually did want to see Renju with his own eyes. Or, eye he supposed. If not to actually talk to him to at least see that his best friend was alright. 

Date and Aiba leave HQ for the first time in over twelve hours, and he has to squint at the bright blue sky to see anything at all. It was probably bad of him to be spending all of his free time on the case files in the basement of an office building, but it’s not like he can just stop investigating even when he wasn’t technically on the clock. 

Central Hospital, called that because it was located basically in the center of Tokyo, was busy to say the least. It was one of the more frequented hospitals in Tokyo, and Date knew that it operated with very close connections to ABYSS. Meaning, it was the only major hospital in the city that could deal with the supernatural. There was an entire floor dedicated to healing with new experimental magical procedures, largely funded by the likes of rich political families with more mythical roots to them. 

He showed his investigator badge to the front desk, and was told to head to a group of elevators in the back of the hospital and go to the fifth floor. The fifth floor wasn’t that significant, except for the fact that the visitor elevators couldn’t visit it. The inside of the elevator was manned by a security guard who balked when Date showed him his badge. 

“Fifth floor please.” Date said to the guard. 

“O-of course, Special Agent Date!” 

The ride was smooth, no bumps or anything from the elevator itself. He suspected that there must have been some sort of magic to make it that way, but he ignored that thought for now. The elevator doors opened to reveal a relatively normal looking hospital lobby, unique only for what was served at the coffee table. It of course had coffee and tea available for visitors, but also a beaker full of blood and a bowl of pure crystals. When he asked about Renju, the receptionist pointed him in the right direction, and he eventually found his way to the room where Renju should be. 

That is, Renju should have been in the room. But when Date opened the door to Renju’s hospital room, all he found was an empty bed and a nurse staring at the bed in shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, I'm not sure if it's a plot hole or not that in the original game there's no explanation for why Date didn't go home on Saturday night in the Resolution route because he would have seen Mizuki at home if he did but then he's surprised when she's at home...anyway now Date's even more of a workaholic. And I'm thinking way to hard about this plot hole lol. 
> 
> stay safe everyone!! Practice your social distancing!


	11. Into the Abyss

**Sunday, 11:07 AM.**

Date couldn’t help but stare at the pristine hospital room that he just stepped into. After all, even the name tag on the door told him that the room was supposed to be occupied at the moment. 

“This is Renju’s room, yeah?” He asked the similarly stunned nurse. 

“Y-yes, this is Mr. Okiura’s room. I’m sure of it…But he’s not here. As you can see.” The nurse fumbles with the clipboard in her hands, but doesn’t seem to exactly know what to do. “He must have snuck out during the night when he wasn’t being watched.” 

Date paused, “He just ‘snuck out’?”

“Mr. Okiura arrived with internal injuries. The surgery was successful, but he’s in no condition to be walking! He would have opened up his wounds, and then we’d be in real trouble.” She nervously glanced around the room, as though anything more than a precautionary glance would have told them that there wasn’t anybody here besides them. “I just can’t believe it! Where would he have even gone?” 

Now that doesn’t sound like something Renju would do at all. But then again, Date hasn’t seen his best friend in what feels like ages. He knows that the other man wouldn’t just throw away his own condition for anything less than his family, and he clearly hasn’t seen Mizuki since she’s been in the hospital. 

_Renju is acting extremely suspicious._ Aiba said. _He also has no alibi for Shoko’s murder, as noted in the investigation report._

_That’s not so out of the ordinary though…_ He tried to argue for his friend. 

_There’s more. I cannot reach Renju by any means. He ran from the hospital with substantial injuries. Perhaps this is an escape._ Of course, Date knew that Renju wouldn’t act like this normally, and the most obvious conclusion to that like of thinking was that Renju did indeed murder his ex-wife. It’s pretty damning that his phone’s been turned off for the last few days, and that he fled a hospital do all places, and that Mizuki can’t contact him either, and—

Alright, he’ll admit it. Renju is their most likely suspect right now. 

Date bids his goodbyes to Renju’s assigned nurse and leaves the hospital room. He finds a secluded corner of the hospital wing and has Aiba call the Lemniscate main line. 

“Helloo~ This is Lemniscate Entertainment Offices! Lemme hear your message, thank you!” He wondered what sort of employee training led her to be the front desk manager of a popular idol business. How Renju handled his company was something he definitely didn’t want to get into right now. 

“This is Kaname Date from the MPD. Can you give me any information on the whereabouts of Renju Okiura?” 

The woman on the other end of the line sighed. “Sorry, no clue. I’m trying to get in touch with him too! So far, nada! I'm getting kinda worried…” Despite her flamboyant attitude, he could tell that the receptionist was actually concerned for Renju, as unlikely of a thing that may be. 

“Is there anywhere that you think he might be?” 

She searched her brain for something, anything that would help him. “Hmm, maybe he’d go to that maid cafe he owns…?” 

“Maid cafe, do you mean Sunfish Pocket?!” Date wants to mentally smack himself in the forehead for not thinking of it sooner. Of course he could check there, and in the off chance that Renju hadn’t visited there before he fell off the face of the earth he could ask the employees who work there. 

“Yeah! All of a sudden Renju was like ‘I’m going to Sunfish Pocket!’ for like a secret party or something. But with the accident and all…” 

“Thanks for the tip. You’ve been very helpful.” Date has Aiba end the call, and they leave Central Hospital to head towards the packed city center where Sunfish Pocket is located. 

Just as he walks through the door of the lavishly decorated cafe, Date is greeted by a young woman in a flashy mermaid outfit and a toothy grin. “Welcome home, Sea King! Where in the ocean would you like to visit today?” 

_So this must be the gimmick of this maid cafe, huh Aiba. Mermaids. I wonder..._

_I have to say Date, it is something you would definitely find interesting to look into when we’re not here for a case._

_Now’s not the time!_

Schooling his face into a neutral expression, he digs into the pocket of his jacket to find his police ID card. “I’m Special Agent Date, here with the MPD. Can I speak with a manager about something?” 

The mermaid waitress looks at the ID in thinly concealed shock. While she’s distracted, he takes a second to scope out the cafe. All of the decorations are obviously ocean themed, from sea shells to plastic ocean waves hanging from the ceiling. The patrons, as sparsely populated as the establishment is, are mostly older men. He shouldn’t be surprised, after all the main appeal of a place like this was of course the handful of waitresses that they had at their beck and call. Just behind him there was at least a two meter tall board covered in portraits of all the maids who worked at the cafe. He doesn’t see anybody that he recognizes, thankfully enough. 

The maid in front of him clears her throat, getting his attention again. “Sir, would you like me to escort you to the abyss seating section?” 

Date sputters, “Look, I just told you that I’m not here as a patron! I’m here on an investigation, so if you please—”

That maid insists. “Oh dear Sea King, I can’t help but notice that you are here on a mission! After all, it says so right here on your badge of honor!” She says, pointing to his police ID. 

“What does my ID have to do with anything?!” Date pulls his hand back to inspect it. Yup, the same as usual. But it looks like she’s expecting him to say something back at her. He’s just about to clarify what she means when Aiba interrupts his train of thought. 

_Wait Date, what information is given on your identification card?_

_Well, my credentials as an officer, my name, and—Oh. It says I’m with ABIS._

Having it so openly pointed out to him caught him off guard, and the last place he expected to find evidence of the supernatural was in a maid cafe of all places. But thinking back to what the maid said, she asked him if he wanted to go to the ‘abyss’. _So, it was a code then._

Looking at her with a newfound fire in his eyes, Date responds in kind. “Sure, you can take me to the abyss.” 

_Stop it with the suggestive innuendos, Date._ Aiba groans. 

Electing to ignore her, Date allows the maid to escort him to the back of the cafe where there’s a single door labeled “VIP Entrance”. It was a common trick for businesses that catered to the supernatural to have a traditional front entrance for the non-believers and then another for their more mythical patrons. He didn’t think that Renju was someone in this line of work, but he’s been surprised a lot by Renju in the past few days. 

She opens the door with what at first appears to be a simple silver key. But Aiba tells him that even her limited magical detection capabilities show her that both it and the door at it opened up have magical locks on them as well. Sneaky as always, Renju. 

Behind the door is a long blue painted hallway also decorated with the ocean decor. It’s not clear where the other doors lead, but the maid guides him towards a specific door for what appears to be only the employees. They walk in to see a much larger room than what would be possible decorated with mirrors and various other costumes and props. 

“I apologize for the mess. There’s been lots of chaos recently since Renju went missing. I assume that is the reason that you’re here?” All of the fake bubbliness has left the maid’s voice, but he doesn’t get the feeling that she’s mad at his presence. It’s just a quiet acceptance. 

“Right on the money. But uh, I don’t think you’ve introduced yourself? It’s not fair for you to know my name and me not know yours.” 

The maid nods in understanding, seamlessly walking around the hangers and stools littered around the room. Date has to scramble over some foam weaponry to keep up with her. “My name is Amame Doi. And I’m a centaur, not a mermaid. Just so we’re clear.” 

“Wait, you’re a centaur? But—” He wanted to ask, where’s the horse body? But then he realizes, much like every other supernatural he knows, she has a veil on. 

Amame looks amused at whatever face he must be making right now. “Yup. I don’t even think we have a real mermaid working ‘as a mermaid’. Most of us just use the heavy veils the company provides to hide our true selves. Although, we did have a siren working here a while back…” 

“Her name wouldn’t happen to be Iris, would it?” It seems like the sort of thing that the young internet idol would try to do. 

“Actually, yeah! Do you know Iris too!?” Amame turned to him in excitement as she opened up the next door that they needed to pass through. 

“Only in passing.” He mutters. The two of them were about the same age, and he didn’t know the exact ages of the other maid cafe workers but he would assume that they targeted young girls in their late teens to early twenties for the job. 

The two of them finally make it to what appears to be a replica of the outside maid cafe restaurant area, but slightly different. For one thing, this part of the cafe was much more packed with guests and ‘mermaids’ alike. Date did wonder why the board in the front had so many girls on it when only a few were serving guests, because most of them were in fact in this section. He could see men, women, and even some couples having meals and standing around the bar. A live band performed an upbeat musical number, and people were dancing in an area cleared of tables and chairs. Well not necessarily people in the traditional sense of the word. He couldn't help but notice that most of the patrons didn’t look quite human. 

What were even more impressive were the mermaids themselves. They all had fully realized fish tails, and they were all flying through the air like it was water. Date could see one maid literally swim through the air to hand a menu to a man sitting at a table elevated halfway up the wall. They flitted about the room like fairies, serving drinks and food alike. The cafe made use of the fact that there was very little area to work with horizontally, but that the ceilings were vaulted much taller than should have been possible in this building. 

“But I thought you said…” He trailed off, not able to take his eye off of the blatant display of magical prowess in the room. Someone, or something, powerful must have been giving out these enchantments. The maids, the space distortions, everything in Sunfish Pocket screamed magic. 

“That none of us were real mermaids? It’s true, I swear!” Amame chuckled. “The veils not only hide our true selves, but create a new one in its place.” 

She led him around the walls of the room, away from the patrons, to the entrance of the kitchen. Inside they saw cooks and chefs preparing all the necessary food to be served. Date felt entirely out of place there, so it was fortunate that Amame quickly found who she was looking for. 

Date was introduced to the local manager of Sunfish Pocket, and just as quickly realized that no one on the managerial side of things knew where Renju was. The embarrassed manager admitted to him that he hadn’t been in contact with Renju for longer than Date had. Which on top of being terrible managing of a business, was also no help to the investigation. He valiantly asked the other staff members when they had last seen the rogue dragon shifter, but all of the replies were lackluster as well. 

He was just about to leave the building entirely when he spotted someone in the crowd of people visiting the maid cafe that he couldn’t just ignore. 

Sitting in the back of the room was no one other than Ota Matsushita. For the first time since they met, the young man’s veil was deactivated, and Date could see that it hid a lot of what Ota’s real form looked like. His satyr legs were splayed out on the couch-like chair he was sitting on, and he could see small nub horns poking out of his hair. Amame, who had followed him out of the kitchen, also saw Ota and a smile grew on her face. 

“Sea King Ota! How are you doing today?” She called out to him, using her presence as a maid to walk around the other tables. Date had no other choice but to follow her. 

The young satyr in question raised his head from the laptop in front of him when they approached. God, does this kid always have a laptop in front of him? Regardless, Date took the opportunity to slide into the seat directly across from Ota. The maid carefully attended to him (just by handing him a menu and glass of water that he definitely doesn’t remember her having a moment ago) and put on that same mask of pleasantness she had when she thought he was here as a quest. It’s like any personality that she had just...vanished. It was a bit creepy how ready to serve she was. Date would never understand the appeal of maid cafes. 

“So, what’s with the spear, Ota?” He asked, ignoring how the young man was glaring at him from behind the laptop screen. 

“It’s a trident, not a spear! It belongs to Poseidon, god of the sea!” Ota whined. 

“Doesn’t answer my question. Why do you of all people have it?” 

Amame must have given pity on Ota, since she explained it for him. “We treat our customers like lords of the sea! To do that we give them tridents, it’s like a ranking system we have here.” 

“The color changes depending on your rank.” Ota adds on. “There’s the usual bronze to gold, but then there’s also platinum and orichalcum!” 

_Orichalcum as the Ancient Greeks knew it to be, was a mythical yellow metal used to craft godly weapons. However the modern interpretation is that it was simply an alloy of gold and copper. In short, not any more valuable than gold itself._

“So, it basically measures how much money you’ve spent here.” He concludes. 

The mermaid tuts at him. “Now that’s not a nice way to put it! It's more like...a way to exploit their vanity and separate the customer from their wallets.” 

Date rolled his eyes. “Not creepy at all. I’m ignoring the fact that you happen to have the highest degree and ask you a real question. What are you doing here of all places?” 

Ota’s goat ears folded back in annoyance, but he answered honestly. “This place makes me feel at ease. Not many businesses around here that allow you to take off your veil, and I can barely take it off at home as it is.” 

He could tell that the satyr was hiding something else though. “And you just happen to come to the cafe that Renju owns after he’s been missing for the past few days.” 

“N-No! That’s not it at all!” Ota waved his hands around like he was about to surrender. “Well, there is one other reason. I’m worried about Tessa…”

“You mean Iris, what’s the matter?” Even now, after getting a full night's rest, his heart stopped for a second at the faint thought that something bad might have happened to the young idol. 

“Well during Tessa’s stream yesterday night, or I guess this morning since it was past midnight, something weird happened. Here, let me show you.” Ota typed away something on the laptop in front of him and spun it around so that Date could see the screen. He and Amame leaned in to see the screen clearly. 

It showed video footage of Iris in what was clearly her living room. She looked nervous, but excited at the same time. Which was odd considering from what he’s heard she does these streams every night that she can. 

“I know it’s been a while, but I’ll try my best!” The recording of Iris said, pumping her fists into the air. Then she stood up from right in front of the camera and backed away until he could see her entire body. “Okay everyone! Here’s my debut song!” 

Even through just watching the stream, Date could tell that once the music turned on Iris was in her element. The speakers were playing some catchy pop song that sounds like it would be right at home on some pop radio station. She spun around and posed like the idol that she was, and it was frustrating to know that she was staying up this late past midnight just to dance for some people on the internet. But this wasn’t concerning him yet. He was just about to ask Ota why they were watching this when the poppy music gets interrupted by the sound of a doorbell ringing. 

It was barely audible in the audio, but he could hear Iris mumble. “Who could it be at this hour?” Before leaving the view of the recording to presumably check the door. He felt a chill go up his spine, it was right to question what someone was doing past midnight at a young girl’s house. 

The music continues on without Iris there. It covers up any hints of who Iris might be talking with at the door. Date waits a tense few moments for her to come back on screen, but when she eventually does her face is determined. 

“Sorry everyone, something came up. But...I’ve got to go for now. See you all next time!” The recorded Iris waves a quick goodbye to the camera before turning off the stream entirely. Neither him nor the maid at his side said a word. 

_That was definitely suspicious, Date._

“When did that happen in the stream?” Date asked. 

Ota took back the laptop with that same concerned look in his eyes that Date knew he was mirroring right now. “About an hour into the stream. So, around two o’clock? I tried calling her immediately after the stream ended with my new phone, but she didn’t answer. I thought it would be a good idea to ask around here, since—” 

“She used to work here.” Date finished for him. 

“Not that we actually know anything either…” Amame sighed. 

Ota looked suspiciously between the two of them. “How did you know that Tessa used to work here, Date? And how do you know Amame?!” 

“We met what, twenty minutes ago? Nothing to get jealous about, kid.” Seems like Ota has a streak going. First a pop idol and now a maid at a cafe. 

The mermaid (who was actually a centaur) just cooed at Ota. “Aww Sea King Ota! You don’t have to worry about losing my attention even for one second.” She slid over to Ota’s side of the table and whispered something in the satyr’s ear. Ota enthusiastically nodded, and some of the worry in his face eased. Alright, this was getting too personal for his liking. 

“Thanks for the info, Ota. I’ll be taking my leave now.” He waved off Amame’s request to escort him out, he knew the way back. And if not he could ask one of the other maids. “Besides, I think you should stay with Ota for now.” 

_What, are you concerned about the wellbeing of someone you just met? That’s very you, Date._

_Not a word Aiba. He might be annoying as all hell, but even I can tell that he’s worried about his friend._

_You’re downplaying your own deductive capabilities._

Date ignored Aiba’s voice echoing in his head and left the relative anonymity of Sunfish Pocket’s hidden cafe. He stopped just outside the building to take in the busy streets of Akihabara. It was always packed on this side of the city, no matter the time of day. 

It took a bit to remember where he parked the car, but as soon as he was inside it he asked Aiba to call Iris. He doesn’t know what he's expecting to hear, or what he even wants to hear, but Aiba indulges him anyway. 

“The number you are attempting to dial is either offline or unavailable.” 

Date slams his hands on the dashboard of the car. Not willing to admit to himself that despite how suspicious that person at the door may have been, and despite how Date warned her to stay at home at all costs; Iris might be in trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies for the late upload! I have lost any and all sense of time and I haven't left the house in three weeks!! But this chapter let me get out another one of my headcanons about Sunfish Pocket, that it's actually a front for another more "shady" business. Because why else would Renju own a maid cafe? Cause we know it's not for the girls


	12. Just Another Crime

**Sunday, 2:14 PM.**

It’s not too late in the afternoon and already Date feels like he needs to take a break from the investigation. They don’t have any leads other than the fact that Iris somehow got involved in all of it, and that Mizuki knows something about it that she’s still unwilling to tell them. In his mind, it was best if he went home for the time being. It was where he knew Mizuki would be. And it’s not like he can spend the rest of his afternoon sulking in front of Sunfish Pocket either. 

He wasn’t going to admit to himself or Aiba that he was getting a bit homesick after not going back for over twenty four hours. 

Date and Mizuki lived in the outskirts of the city, with a lot of construction sites surrounding their similarly run down apartment complex. He never said he was a psyncer for the money. At least Mizuki seemed to like the ‘aesthetic’ of the place, as she put it. Though he was pretty sure that was just her attempts to reassure him that she liked her new home. The matte red bricks sure feel more like a home to him than any other apartment has. Or, that’s what he assumes anyway. With the memory loss everything before he moved into this apartment was pretty fuzzy. 

He sluggishly walks up the winding staircase to his floor, and almost forgets where he put his keys, before finally opening up the door to his apartment. What, or who, he found in there made him gasp out loud. 

An unforgettable woman was sitting down on the loveseat by the couch. She looked up just as he walked in, with her usual warm smile on her face. Wait, her usual smile…

_Hitomi Sagan. She’s Iris’ mother._

_Of course I knew that, idiot. But why…?_

Out of the corner of his vision he spotted Mizuki lifting what he knew to be a barbell over twice her own body weight on a bench press. After living with her for the past four years he was used to the sight, but it told him that she must have been feeling a lot better after how draining the psync was yesterday. 

It sure was an investment on Date’s part, to buy her a whole workout press, but Mizuki’s been using it diligently to train for as long as they’ve had it. The actual bench itself had specially designed footholds made for claws and holes in the back for her wings. Honestly the hardest part was getting it up all the flights of stairs up into the apartment in the first place. He couldn’t lift any of it himself, so he had to ask Mizuki to help him carry up her own birthday present. Remembering the fond memory almost made him forget the other important person in the room. 

Date attempted to formally introduce himself again and offer Hitomi a drink, but she waved him off saying she’s been here for a while now. She invited him to sit with her at the coffee table. 

“I came because I received a NILE message from Mizuki yesterday afternoon, to pick her up and take her home from the hospital after her check up. I could never say no to one of my students.” Hitomi said with an indulgent look on her face. 

“Wait,” Date interrupted her. “Mizuki is one of your students?” 

“She’s in my homeroom class.” He logically knew that Hitomi was a teacher, and that she taught younger kids, but he never made the connection that she taught at Mizuki’s elementary school. But all of this information matched up with what Iris told him yesterday night. He wondered how Boss knew that this would all work out, or if she orchestrated all of this somehow. No. Boss wouldn’t have intentionally left Iris alone after what they saw in Mizuki’s somnium. 

_It must have been a coincidence,_ he told himself. 

“Mizuki told me that she wanted to go home.” The woman sighed, but then her eyes widened like she just remembered something. “Not to Renju’s house! She wanted to come here instead.” 

That’s right, Hitomi must have thought that Mizuki still lived with Renju and not him. Even though Mizuki hasn’t actually been back to the Okiura household in months, officially at least she still lives there. 

“That’s very kind of you.” He couldn’t help but say. 

Hitomi shook her head. “I apologize for coming over without asking…” 

Date told her that it was no problem, and not so bluntly asked her if she’s eaten anything today. She admits that she hasn’t, and he urges her to help herself in the kitchen. Hitomi relents after he tells her he wants to speak to Mizuki, and she stands up from the couch to give the two of them some privacy. 

Mizuki, for her part, puts down the weights without any complaints once she spies him walking over to her. 

“Renju sent you that NILE message, didn’t he?” He asks her right out of the gate, in lieu of a greeting. It’s been bugging him for a while now, how suspicious Renju’s been acting for the past few days. It was the only direction that this could have gone in his mind. 

“Huh?” It takes a second for his question to register, but then Mizuki’s tone gets suspicious. “...What?” 

“I got this buddy of mine.” The lie rolls off his tongue easily. “Real bad personality, but good with technology. They helped me out.” 

_‘Bad personality’?_

Date pointedly ignores Aiba’s quip. “At about eight o’ clock last night, there was a message sent to your phone. Does this sound familiar: ‘Mizuki, daddy got caught up in something serious. Please come to Bloom Park’s merry-go-round immediately. Daddy needs your help. Please do as I say.” 

Mizuki’s eyes go from their previously dark expression to a somber one in the blink of an eye. He knows that hearing it all again would upset her, but they needed to work this case out as soon as possible. With her head hanging low, she slowly nods. 

But then she swings her head up to defend her father, her wings flaring out in an attempt to intimidate him. “Y-yeah, it was from Daddy’s phone. But I didn’t wana’ say anything cause that would mean that Daddy was a s-suspect, so…”

“So you kept quiet about it.” Date finishes for her. As much as he didn’t like it, he understood her reasoning. 

“My daddy’s never said something like that to me ever. That he was counting on me. I had to go!” The words rush out of her mouth like she couldn’t stop them. That was certainly true as well, Renju never spoke to Mizuki like that over text, or even over the phone. The pieces of the puzzle were slowly coming together in his mind. 

“And you brought Ota along in case what happened was actually dangerous.” 

_Bloom Park is located in the middle of the Kabasaki District. It is a highly impoverished area of the city with a high crime rate as well. She must have been justifiably worried about going alone._

Mizuki weakly laughed. “I wonder what Daddy’s going to think when I tell him I went to our meeting spot with a boy.” 

Date had more than enough feelings about that particular sentiment for both him and Renju combined, but something about the way she said it ticked off his instincts. She sounded apprehensive about Renju for sure, but not as worried as he thought she would be considering the fact that he was all but missing. 

_Shit, Aiba she doesn’t know that Renju’s missing. She never even heard about the accident._

_And how could she, Date? Mizuki has been here alone with Hitomi ever since she left ABIS. You should inform her as soon as possible._

_Easier said than done._

“Mizuki, about Renju—” 

She immediately picks up on his hesitancy. “What's wrong with Daddy?” 

Date looks away from her, not willing to meet her ice cold glare. “What do you know about Renju’s whereabouts?” 

“I don’t know where he is…” Mizuki’s wings drop onto the bench, and her tail curls behind her legs like she’s trying to grab onto something. Even if he didn’t know the tell tale signs of her draconic limbs, he saw her hands ball up into fists as they rested on her legs. 

“Can you think of anywhere specifically that he might be?” It was worth a shot to ask her himself, since he’s pretty much exhausted any traditional leads at this point. 

“No, not really.” She responds in that certain way that only a young child can. The tone of her voice feigned disinterest, but Date knew for a fact that Mizuki wasn’t fully comfortable talking about Renju so casually after the years of distancing that the two Okiuras have done. “I don’t know where Daddy goes all of the time.” 

_He didn’t even visit her while she was in the hospital._

“But I didn’t expect him to. He’s always too busy to deal with me.” Mizuki responds. Wait, crap he said that out loud too didn’t he? Not for the first time, he curses his best friend’s inability to emotionally connect to other people. 

_Like you’re one to talk, Date._

Refusing to let Mizuki wallow in her thoughts for any longer, Date stands up from his place on the couch and playfully moves Mizuki so he can join her on the bench press. It’s a tight fit for sure; but he saves the young girl from falling off of it entirely by wrapping her wildly flapping wing around his shoulders. “Date, what—”

“It’s no use thinking those sorts of thoughts when we still don’t know where Renju is, right? So, kid do me a favor and don’t think so down on yourself when you’ve been through so much already.” 

Mizuki’s feet kicked out in front of her and she turned away from him. Probably to hide the growing blush that he knew was probably on her face. “S-stupid Date.” 

Out of the corner of his vision (on the side not obstructed by Aiba’s constant surveillance) he sees Hitomi give him a subtle nod of approval. 

“So, have you been here all alone with Miss. Sagan since yesterday evening?” He asks, pointedly referring to Hitomi with her family name. She was Mizuki’s teacher after all. 

“Yup.” Mizuki replies, popping out the ‘p’ sound. 

“Has—” His eyes almost unconsciously darted towards the kitchen where Hitomi was brewing something that spelled suspiciously like coffee. “Has anyone called you...Iris for example?” 

Mizuki scoffed, which didn’t quite have the effect she wanted it to have considering how high her voice was already. “Don’t pretend like that was a coincidence, idiot! You’ve been asking about Iris for the past day!” 

“T-that’s not!—Well, I have been asking about her a lot recently haven’t I…” Here he was, thinking he was succeeding at being subtle about his growing worry for the young idol. But somehow even Mizuki picked up on his anxieties. 

As though acting as an angel descending down from the heavens, Hitomi saves him from having to fumble his way through more of Mizuki’s questions. 

“Here, I hope you don’t mind me using your coffee maker for just a moment.” Hitomi spoke, balancing two coffee mugs in her left hand. Date wordlessly takes the two of them. One of them smelled like black coffee, his usual go to drink. The other was a rich hot chocolate peppered with a few tiny marshmallows that Date didn’t even know he had in his kitchen. “Drink up, I’m sure you need it after what’s been happening this weekend.” 

“And here I thought you were a tea drinker…” He nonetheless downed almost half the mug in a single sip. Damn, he hasn’t had a good cup of coffee in a while. How she got his five year old coffee maker to churn this out he’ll never know. 

“Oh, I certainly am. But Iris likes both, so I’ve had plenty of practice making coffee.” 

“Yeah! Whenever I go over to you and Iris’ house she always makes tea and hot chocolate for me!” Mizuki chimes in. 

He paused going for a second sip of his coffee. “When have you been over to their house? For that matter, how’d you even get this close to Miss. Sagan anyway?!” 

“Please, Date. Just Hitomi is fine—” 

“She’s special, Date!” 

Mizuki and Hitomi look at each other in shock. The older woman quietly chuckles, which eases the tension in the dragon shifter’s shoulders. Hitomi waves at her, urging her to continue speaking. 

“I dunno, she’s just special. Yeah, she’s my teacher but she’s also Daddy’s friend and Iris’ mom. Even in class, she’s extra nice to me when I need help with a problem!” Mizuki’s cheeks were tinted a bright pink color. But she looked almost excited to be able to tell Date about how special Hitomi was to her. 

“Oh, I know I shouldn’t be. I love all my students equally, but sometimes I just can’t help myself.” Hitomi gave a fond smile to Mizuki. Date couldn’t help but notice how familiar the two of them have been acting with each other. From what he knew about Mizuki and Iris’ friendship, it has lasted for longer than a year; at least before the start of Mizuki’s academic school year. It certainly would have helped the young girl’s transition into fifth grade if he already knew her homeroom teacher through going over to her house for play dates. As jealous as that thought might have made him initially, he’s glad that Mizuki has had other adult role models in her life other than him. 

_Not like you’re much of a role model yourself._

_Your input is always appreciated, Aiba._

_I aim to please._

“I never would have guessed that you teached at Mizuki’s school.” Date thought about the long commute distance between where Hitomi’s house was and Mizuki’s elementary school. 

“And I never knew you lived with Mizuki.” Hitomi countered back. “I knew about her ...circumstances with Renju. But, he described you as a relative. Which, I now suppose isn’t true.” 

Renju was never any good at actually raising Mizuki, but at least he wasn’t a total absentee father. Although Renju’s name and contact information was on all of Mizuki’s school records, Date still managed to pry some information out of the secretive young girl every once in a while. Date not being Mizuki’s legal guardian was one of the stipulations of him taking her into his home after all. 

A large part of him can’t just ignore the fact that it was Renju’s friend that ‘happened’ to become Mizuki’s new teacher so suddenly. 

“You must be used to Renju’s schemes by now. You’ve known him from what, high school?” 

Hitomi nodded. “We were in the same grade at Eitoku High.” 

“Eitoku is on the other side of the city, yet you’re working all the way out here in Mizuki’s district. Do you think that’s a coincidence?” 

“I hadn’t always planned on being a teacher, and it’s not out of the ordinary for teachers to be in demand far outside of the school district that they live in.” Date could tell that she was avoiding directly answering the question. 

“I can hear a ‘but’ in there somewhere.” 

“But...I know that it wasn’t a coincidence that Mizuki ended up in my class. Renju seemed intent on sending Mizuki to a school where he knew I would be teaching. Haha, you may not know this Mizuki, but the reason that your father moved a few years back was because he wanted you to be in the bounds of the school district that I worked in.” 

“So, that’s why we moved five years ago…?” Mizuki wondered in confusion. 

“I assume so.” 

Five years was just over a year before Mizuki moved again to live with him. He vaguely remembers Renju mentioning the move to him, but the memory was overshadowed by the growing frequency that Renju would come with him to get drunk and ignore the problems going on in his marriage. 

“It was before the divorce.” He stated. 

“Y-yes.” Hitomi winces and trails her left arm over the opposite shoulder. “I heard that Shoko didn’t have a problem with the move.” 

_Aiba, can you bring up the x-ray vision?_

_Of course Date._

He has to stop himself from closing his natural eye entirely to focus on the vision he could see through Aiba’s help. But he still probably looked a bit weird by just staring directly at Hitomi’s shoulder. 

_The plate of medical grade titanium in his right shoulder appears to be resting as it should be. It is not causing her any pain, Date._

_It must be psychological, then. Thank goodness._

“Pardon me for asking, but about your right arm…” 

“Ah yes, is it bothering you?” She reluctantly asked, as though she was afraid of what answer he could give her. 

“What?! N-no I was more concerned about if it was bothering you!” 

From the stunned look on her face, Hitomi must not get that answer a lot. “Don’t worry, it’s not in any pain. In fact, I can’t feel it at all. It’s become a habit of mine to touch my arm every once in a while, just to remind myself that it’s still there.” 

“You mentioned before that your arm locked up on you. Was it an accident, or…?” 

She sighed. “I suppose you could call it an accident. About six years ago, I was shot in the shoulder, killing the connecting nerves in my arm. The story is—” 

Date really wishes he could listen to her explaining the story of how she injured her shoulder. But he can’t help but remember that dream he had right while he was watching over Mizuki in the hospital. 

(There was blood on the floor, there was screaming and suddenly Hitomi was on the floor too. _Oh god Hitomi—_ ) 

“—from the way he talked, he sounded insane.” 

“From drugs?” Date’s voice was hoarse, but he hid it under the guise of taking another drink of the now cold coffee in his hands. He barely managed to get the response out. If he could just figure out who it was in the dream then…

“Maybe. The police statement said he wasn’t under the influence of anything they would normally check for.”

“It was just a random crime, after all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how's everyone's quarantine going? I personally have been avoiding any and all of my responsibilities and sleeping in till noon. 
> 
> ...don't follow my example lol.


	13. Marbled Discoveries

**Sunday, 3:53 PM.**

_Date, you’ve been awfully quiet. The rising level of cortisol in your bloodstream has me worried. You shouldn’t drink any more coffee._

_No, it’s nothing. I’m fine Aiba._

_I at least urge you to—_

_Drop. It._

He bids Mizuki and Hitomi farewell, selfishly asking the elementary school teacher to continue watching over the girl for a little while longer. Hopefully he’ll actually be able to sleep in his own apartment tonight, his anger is getting the best of him lately. He hopes in vain that a good night’s rest would fix all of his problems. 

The coffee that Hitomi made for him works wonders to get him moving out of the apartment complex and out into the brisk afternoon air. There was one final stop he needed to make for the investigation today. 

It was honestly his last resort, he didn’t want to impose on Mama too much. Especially after he and Renju got a reputation from their long nights of drinking each other to tears. 

Date and Aiba arrived at the front door of Marble in record time. It was a small hole in the wall establishment, and unlike Sunfish Pocket he already knew that the entire building had an enchantment placed on it so that no human could even see it. Through his right eye he saw it just as a brick wall covered in leafy vines. It was only with Aiba’s help that he even knew where Marble actually was. 

Thankfully, Golden Yokocho was all but abandoned at this time of the day. The street was packed with all sorts of stores, most of which you wouldn’t be caught dead going into during the day. It was also lined with various vending machines, mostly filled with porn magazines and the like. 

_Should we stop to pick something up, Date?_

_You know I can’t do that while I’m on the job, you damn eyeball._

He could gripe about Aiba knowing the all too intimate details of how he dealt with the fact that he has been single for the past four years; but her lackluster attempt at teasing let him know that she wasn’t mad about his outburst at her earlier. Date checked to see if anyone was around, then reached behind him for the handle of the door that he knew was hidden in the leaves. 

It was a trick he learned a while back that magical glamors on objects only worked visually. So by not allowing himself to see the wall, it became infinitely easier to find the door. 

The comparatively calm atmosphere was made all the more contrast by the interior of the bar. He could hear the low quality of a handheld radio blasting pop music that was just a few years too late to be considered popular. It took a second for his eyes to adjust to the dimly lit room, but before they could fully adjust he heard a voice yell out from behind the bar counter. 

“Well, well, well! If it isn’t Date! Long time no see, is something wrong?” The person behind the counter excitedly waved to him. Mama was a heavyset individual who ran the bar at Marble. From what little information he’s been able to get out of her over the years, she also actually owned the place. Not that he’s ever seen any other staff around to prove that assumption wrong. Her hair was carefully curled around her face, and her purple makeup matched the similarly purple dress she was wearing. She always looked so put together for someone who ran a seedy bar like Marble. 

“Not much Mama. Can’t I come here just to talk with you?” He had missed their usual banter for a while now, despite how little time he can make in his schedule to visit. 

“You flatter me honey, but I would know if you weren’t here for a specific reason.” Mama shows her back to him to turn off the sink and he gets a glimpse of the iridescent wings resting beneath her fur jacket. Date knows it was a calculated move, as all of Mama’s actions were. It was what made talking with her so interesting in the first place. You never quite knew what to expect when dealing with a fairy. “It’s about Shoko Nadami. Ren’s ex?” 

_Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting it to be that fast._

_Date, Mama is a fairy, and a well known one at that. You should know by now that dealing with her is incredibly dangerous._

_But she’s the best informant we have right now._

“You’re as sharp as ever.” He replies, instead of giving in to his immediate instinct to flinch away from her calculating stare. Something was always just slightly off when he talked to the fae bartender. Like she was trying so hard to be human that it was coming off as an overabundance of human desires. 

Or, it was just his instincts saying that the being in front of him wasn’t quite human. 

“I saw it all on the news. How awful…” Mama’s eyes were sad, yet still distant, as he settled down at the bar. 

Now that he could properly see the bar itself, he noticed that they were all alone in the room. Under the drone of the radio’s music he heard the fans spinning around the stuffy air. Marble didn’t have any windows after all, and now he remembers why it used to be so easy to lose himself in a cold bottle of beer here. 

“Has business been slow lately?” He asked, sure that she already noticed his observation of the room. 

“Not without you and Ren coming in here every weekend to liven the place up.” Date could never tell when Mama actually meant the words that she was saying, but he had a feeling that she also missed him the same way that he missed Renju right now. “Drowning your sorrows into a glass of bourbon, even getting into fights every once in a while. Oh! Do you remember the one time that it got serious between you two?” 

“Don’t remind me…” Most of the memories he had here were clouded by the tipsy daze he left the building in (he always overestimated his ability to out drink a literal dragon), but he knew immediately which fight she was referring to. 

“Your drunk ass spilled beer all over Ren’s watch. He was furious, yelling about how ‘this watch was more important than my life!’ or whatever.” Mama’s devious smirk told him that she was enjoying watching him squirm at the memory. If he was being honest, he didn’t even remember it all that well. He only could bring up the memory of his frantic apologies to Renju the next day, and his best friend telling him that it was alright. “He really blew up on you that night.”

Something was fishy here, and not just what Mama was cleaning in her hands. “What’s the point of telling me that story, Mama?” 

“That was the only time I’ve ever seen Ren that mad, or that passionate, about anything. It was an anniversary gift from his new lover after the divorce. He’s always had that watch on him, and he’d always show it off to me whenever he could. That’s why I remember it so well, no other reason.” 

“Yeah, sure. No other reason—” Date cut himself off, and looked back at Mama. Really looked back at her. She seemed normal for a moment, until he noticed that her eyes were glittering. It was the only clear sign that she was seeing something that wasn’t really there, or that she saw something that isn’t yet to be. 

Meeting his gaze head on, Mama’s smirk grew wider. “You’re trying to tell me something about Renju, aren’t you?” 

She winked at him, ignoring his question entirely. “A lady never kisses and tells, Date.” 

“I’d vastly prefer it if you just said straight out that certain information was important, but no, of course it wouldn’t be that easy. Damn you cryptic fairies.” 

“Not like that fact stopped you and Ren from coming here as often as you did. Speaking of him, why isn’t he here with you today?” Mama innocently asked. 

If she didn’t know it already, then she was going to figure it out eventually. “I came here today to ask you that question. He’s been declared missing ever since he escaped from the hospital.” 

Mama gasped, “What’s wrong with Ren?”

Date recounts everything about how Renju got into the car accident, and how he’s been MIA ever since. While Mama’s face doesn’t change much, he can still see the tell tale signs of stress in the way that her wings fluttered behind her. 

“I see...I-I’ll contact you if I can get any information on him.” 

“Thank you, Mama. That means a lot.” Although she doesn’t have any information on Renju, she might have something on the other aspect of his investigation. “But, it’d go a long way if you could tell me anything you know about Shoko as well.” 

Mama’s eyes widened in understanding. “I may have something, but I’m not sure how useful it will be to the investigation. You know how Shoko was a representative of that investment company? The one in housing and urban development.” 

Date wordlessly nodded. 

“They were part of a massive fraud scheme.” Although they were entirely alone in the bar, Mama whispered the information into his ears over the counter, like they were on the school playground and they were talking about a crush or something. Despite how much Mama might claim to not listen to the gossip of her patrons, she sure got a lot of info out of them when it was useful to her. 

But to think that out of everyone he knew, Shoko Nadami would be the one involved in a fraud scheme? She was one of the most straight laced people Date knew. 

“And,” she continued on, not deterred at all by his silent shock. “They were in bed with the Kumakuras, the yakuza gang. My hunch is that they killed her.” 

“The Kumakuras killed her?!” Date whispered, mostly to himself. But of course Mama heard him with her excellent hearing. 

“I don’t know anything for sure. But it was definitely possible. Maybe Shoko did something to piss off the wrong people, and they punished her for it. You know how those wolves treat outsiders when they break their self imposed code of law.” 

“Damn.” First Renju was hiding a front for a maid cafe catering to the supernatural without ABIS’ knowledge, and how Shoko was messing around with the Kumakura gang of all people?! He really wishes he could grab one of those expensive beer bottles he sees behind the bar counter. 

_Date, I highly advise against drinking while conducting your investigation. There will be plenty of time to come back to Marble once you finish this case file._

_You read my mind, Aiba._

Still, he wasn’t kidding earlier about how stifling this room was. He wondered if fairies had a higher tolerance to warm temperatures than humans did. “Can I get a glass of ice water?” 

“Oh, not a bourbon then. That’s unusual…” Mama smirked, but grabbed a cup regardless. 

“I’m working.” He bluntly said. 

“I drink at work all the time~” 

“Not like you can even get drunk, Mama. You have less to worry about.” 

Their conversation devolves into vague reminiscing on the past, and catching up with each other. Date really only wanted a drink as an excuse to try and get more information out of Mama, but he’s pleasantly surprised at how their bickering flows smoothly. Almost too smoothly, if he’s being honest. He’s never been a very social person after all. 

But sitting at the bar of Marble and talking with Mama eased some of the tension in his shoulders that had formed after he left his apartment. Sure, the booze here was great and Mama was a useful informant. But he always felt welcomed whenever he came here. It wasn’t a feeling he was used to experiencing in a place catered towards the supernatural, but it was nice. 

_You could say, she has a ‘supernatural’ ability to make you feel at ease._

_Quit it! That wasn’t even a real pun. And I thought you were suspicious of Mama cause she was a fairy?_

_I had my doubts that she would be able to give us any relevant information. But thankfully she proved me wrong. Her intentions are harmless. However, we should be continuing on soon._

_Right. We can’t chat forever._

_Let’s go pay the Kumakuras a visit._

Date thanked Mama for her time, and finished off the glass of water that was given to him. The fairy tried to playfully hand him an alcoholic drink to go, but he politely refused it. They shared quick goodbyes as she was interrupted by the sound of another customer walking into the bar. He took the opportunity to quietly leave the building and make his way towards what appeared to be an innocuous cluster of office buildings. 

The Kumakura offices weren’t anything noteworthy on the outside, and they had an abysmal amount of security too, all to keep up the facade that what was housed within was just a regular old management company. 

He didn’t even have to ask Aiba to guide him towards the department where he knew the head of the gang would be. Date didn’t realize it at the moment, but he knew the layout of the building by heart. He walked confidently through the halls, positive that Aiba would turn off any security cameras that could be tracking his movements. 

His stop in the elevator lets him reach into his back pockets and pull out a set of shiny gray brass knuckles and slip them onto his hands. He also takes the small window of opportunity to tap his heels onto the floor, nodding at the resounding click of metal on metal. 

On the third floor he finds the office he’s looking for. He opens a door that looks exactly like the dozens of other doors that he’s passed by, except for what he knew was behind it. He and Aiba take a scan of the room as soon as he walks in. Two ‘office workers’ sitting at their desks, and one unfamiliar man sitting behind the boss’ desk. Both of the chums were wearing informal attire, one even going so far as to wear a jersey, making them both stand out from their environment even more. 

Aiba immediately told him about the dozen or so weapons they kept both on their person and in the office itself, despite the fact that he knew it’d be a challenge for any intruder to get past the two gang members even without their weapons. The man in the back was reclining in his chair, seemingly unconcerned about Date’s presence. That would be the first mistake he made today. 

One of the yakuza members stands up from his chair, his hands flexed and his nails sharpening into claws. While his suit jacket was fitting for working in an office, his sunglasses and gold chain necklace told a different story. “Who’s this asshole?” 

“You made a big mistake coming here.” The other lackey follows suit, attempting to puff out his chest to make his large form look even bigger than it was. “Go home.” 

He inwardly smirked. Date turned around, exposing his back to them, and went to grab the door handle again. “Alright then, good day.” 

_Hey Date! Stay on guard!_

_Ugh, I hate dealing with guys like this…_

He pinches the bridge of his nose as the two of them not so subtly back him away from the exit. He of course, isn’t actually threatened by it. But he decides to let them think it’s working for a moment longer. They surround him on two fronts, with the wall and a set of desks blocking his back and his right sides. Both yakuza members smile at him with all too sharp teeth. They must have been bored out of their minds, to jump the gun on attacking him like this. 

“You want to die, old man?” One of them threatens. He didn’t care which one of them it was, at this point. All he knew was they were standing in his way of talking to the person he actually needed to speak to right now. 

Without another word, Date rushed forwards and threw a jab at the larger thug. With inhuman reflexes, he dodges Date’s punch. But he was expecting that much. 

His other hand comes up to hit right in the stomach. The thug wheezes as he’s knocked back a few feet. Normally, a punch with that much force behind it would leave a person on their knees. At least they were trained well, he thinks. Although it didn’t stop him from collapsing anyway after Date landed another solid punch on him while he was distracted. 

The thug’s split second glance behind Date clued him in to what the other one was planning, but his scream would have done the trick as well. “You bastard!” 

He heard the other man run up to him, and waited until he was within range before roundhouse kicking him in the face. The man goes flying into the wall, slamming his head into the plaster with enough force to crack it. If it was possible, Date thought he would see ducks flying around the thug’s head as he went ragdoll onto the ground. 

Where Date managed to connect his attacks, both of the gang members have large red marks in their skin. No doubt that they’d burn to the touch. 

Finally realizing the danger that he was in, the apparent leader of the office reached down to where Date knew one of the many guns in the room were stored. But as soon as he crouches down Date is right there shoving his police badge in his face. 

Not allowing any mirth to seep into his voice (okay. Maybe a little mirth, cut him some slack Aiba), he introduces himself. “Sorry for the late introduction. I’m with the MPD.” 

“A cop, huh...” The suited man growls out. Literally, from how close they are Date can see his chest hum with the restraint of a wild animal. That is to say, very little restraint. “You wana’ explain what the fuck a cop is doing in my office?”

Allowing himself to relax his stance at the apparent truce, Date backs off. “I think we should exchange names before exchanging expletives.” 

“Name’s Moma, the “Havoc of War”. Don’t give a fuck what your name is.” 

Date rolls his eyes, confident that his display of brute force earlier was enough to prove to the man in front of him that he wasn’t to be messed with. “Alright ‘Moma’. I have a few things I want to ask you. Two days ago Shoko Nadami’s corpse was found at Bloom Park. Don’t try and pretend you don’t know her name.” 

“I wouldn’t deny it, asshole. Heard her name on the news before. The media’s making a real fuss ‘bout this new serial killer. Can’t help but hear about it. I don’t know anythin’ else.” His sentences were choppy, like he was reading off of a script. Yup, he didn’t need Aiba’s thermograph to tell him that Moma was lying through his fanged teeth. 

“Likely story. Did you kill her then?” Date eggs him on. 

“Fuck no!” Moma harshly responds. “Why the hell would we do that?” 

Oh, Date can think of plenty of reasons why a known yakuza gang would target one of their correspondents. All of which he could imagine Shoko falling into, considering the info he got at Marble. But it seems like Moma himself wasn’t too keen on telling him anything useful. 

“If you’re not going to tell me anything, then how about I ask you where the chairman is?” 

Moma looks confused for a second, but then laughs at him like he’s crazy. “Ha, what?” 

One of the thugs speaks up from his position curled up on the couch in the corner of the room. “The chairman is right in front of you, dumbass.” 

Date looks incredulously between the two of them. “...what?” 

“I run the Kumakura Pack. I’m Moma. Kumakura.” He spoke to him like he was deaf, but something wasn’t adding up. 

“That…” Date hesitates. He hadn’t given it much thought before now, but it was true that he had come here expecting to find the chairman of the gang in this office. “That can’t be right. The chairman of the Kumakuras is Rohan.” 

His head throbs in pain, a headache suddenly forming in his brain. It’s almost like as soon as he tried to think about Rohan, his mind decided to fight back against whatever he was trying to remember. In the corner of his vision he thinks he sees one of Aiba’s command features giving him some sort of chemical compound to block out the pain. He wants to thank her, but he can barely force himself to pay attention to one conversation at a time. Much less two of them. 

“You aren’t the chairman.” He says, confidently enough to cover up his internal hesitation. The chairman was, Rohan was—

(He was standing in the Kumakura’s office, but instead of Moma in front of him it was Rohan. He was speaking to Date, but he couldn’t hear a single word that the chairman was saying. The mad glint in Rohan’s eyes almost made him look away. 

He gestured to the desk in front of him to a polaroid photo. He was too far away to see it clearly, but Date saw two figures. For some reason, looking at the photo made his chest grow tight, like he was having trouble breathing. 

“—want you on this right away, got it?”

What was Rohan talking about? It was important to him, he knew that much. But thinking about it for long made the tightness in his chest grow worse. It was fear. That was the emotion he was feeling right now. 

But underneath all of it, he could sense an ever present, writhing, and _burning hatred_ —)

_DATE!_

Aiba’s yell brought him out of the sudden relapse. The sudden...memory? 

_Date, the time is 5:15 PM on Sunday. You are in the Kumakura Office building speaking to Moma Kumakura. Can you confirm that is where you are at this moment?_

_...yeah, Yeah, I’m talking with Moma. What were we talking about?_

_About Rohan. I suggest you listen to what he has to say._

“My bro Rohan died a year ago. I dunno what sorta rock you’ve been living under to not know that.” 

_Aiba, is that true?_

_It is exactly as he says. Rohan Kumakura comitted suicide last year by jumping off of a building. But Moma did not take over last year. He took over six years ago._

_Six years ago…_

Then why was Date’s memory so faulty? Why did Date remember that Rohan was the chairman of the Kumakuras when his memory loss doesn’t extend that far back? Why did he have memories talking with Rohan of all people?!

...And why did Aiba not seem surprised at any of that information?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now introducing Mama and Moma, fairy and werewolf respectively!! I always thought it was weird how Date was able to take down two yakuza members without getting a scratch on him, but this time he had a pretty big advantage lol. Also I'm a nerd and Moma's nickname is a reference to Shakespeare just because I think it's funny.


	14. Wolfish Deal

**Sunday, 5:16 PM.**

“What do you know about investment fraud, Moma Kumakura?” Date asked, desperate to change the topic of his blunt misunderstanding towards something he could get a handle over. 

Moma glared at him. “I have no idea what you’re talkin’ about, cop. Ya must have gotten some bad info.” 

Date, whenever you inquire about Shoko, Moma’s thermograph changes dramatically. 

In his left vision, Date saw Moma’s body temperature rise way above the normal levels, even for a werewolf like himself. He was glad that Aiba was on the same wavelength as him. 

_It’s a red hot lie then. Now how do I get him to admit to it?_

_Remove his fingernails one by one._

_Not my style._

_Blackmail him?_

_Who am I, Boss?_

_Finding his weakness and threatening him with it may be highly effective. I suggest you look at the safe hidden in the wall behind his desk._

Sure enough, Date thought that something must have been hiding behind the ridiculously large banner with the Kumakura coat of arms on it. Aiba’s x-ray vision let him see that it was…

_An A-set figurine? Why the hell does he have a figure hidden in a safe of all places?_

_Unknown, but perhaps we can use it._

“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to be a fan of A-set would you?” The figurine was behind a hidden safe after all, so it must have been more important to Moma than the various gun stashes he’s hidden around the office with less care. 

“W-What?!...Who’s that?” The yakuza boss responded, not really helping his case at all. 

Date rolled his one eye. “A schoolgirl idol, You know what I’m talking about.” Unknown to his lackeys, Date pointedly glared at the insignia on the wall here he knew the safe was kept. 

Yakuza number one chirped up from the couch. “Think you can get away with talking like that!? He’d never be into that girly shit, you asshole!” 

Not bothering to acknowledge the offended werewolf, Date pinned his glare back onto Moma. It was hard to intimidate someone who could probably eviscerate you in a single claw swipe, but Moma looked substantially intimated underneath his gaze. 

_It’s not like I’m going to hurt him...much. I don’t know what state his ego will be in after this though._

“Shadows.” he said. 

Like a switch had been flipped, Moma’s angry face broke out into a huge grin and his arms moved around in a complicated motion reminiscent of how Date saw idols introducing their groups on TV. “Threat, silhouette, A-set!!” 

He continued to yell out words, confident in Moma’s ability to guess whatever it was that A-set’s catchphrase was for it immediately. And he wasn’t disappointed in the slightest. 

“Boss...what’s this?” There was the sound of a man suddenly not so confident in his masculinity. 

“Sh-shut up! Don’t look at me!” Moma suddenly realizes the mistake he just made. “Get out of here! Scram!” 

The lackey clearly hesitates, halfway off of the couch but not actually leaving the room. 

The yakuza boss isn’t having it. “I said, get the fuck out of here!” 

“Y-yes sir!” He quickly leaves with his tail between his legs, dragging the unconscious one out as well. That leaves Date alone with Moma. 

“I had no idea you were a net idol fan, Moma.” Date teased. Moma, for what it’s worth, kept on a pretty convincing mask of uncaringness. But as soon as the doors to the office were closed he broke out into a cold sweat. 

“How did you know?” 

He inclines his head towards the Kumakura logo behind the desk. “You’re hiding an A-set figure in the case. Pretty secure place to keep fan merchandise.” 

Moma gasps. “How did you know that!? You’re not some kinda mutant are you?” 

Date tells him the same thing he told Iris a while back. “I have superpowers.” 

“Yeah, sure.” Moma grumbles. “You smell human though…” 

“Anyway, I’ve got your secret now. If you don’t want that to get out then you better answer my questions. Honestly this time.” 

“Yeah, yeah. I got it.” Moma reluctantly agreed. 

“Explain to me everything that happened to Rohan.” 

“Rohan was...my older brother. He was my big brother in the pack, and by blood.” He trails off. “He’s gone now.” 

“The suicide…” Date mumbles. 

“‘Bout twenty years ago we were in a turf war with a neighboring pack in the city. One day one of their wolves comes in here and smashes my bro’s face in with a metal bat. His vision’s been screwed on the right side ever since. The doctors say he can still see...but it doesn’t register. He can only eat and draw with his left side.” 

_Date, can you ask Moma a question for me?_

_Sure, Aiba. But why…?_

_Just ask him please, was Rohan left-handed?_

Date says the question out loud, and Moma looks surprised at the guess. But he confirms that Rohan was indeed left-handed. 

_I have deduced that Rohan must have suffered from hemispatial neglect on his right side. As you are aware, the brain is divided into two halves. One side takes over for high brain functioning and thought processes, while the other controls spatial recognition. In only around one third of the population is the right brain the superior side, and it is often linked to left-handedness._

_So, since Rohan was left-handed and he got hit on the left side of his head the only thing that was affected was his spatial recognition?_

_Precisely._

“Anyway, after getting the shit beat out of him he changed, man.” Moma got a far off look on his face, not looking at Date but looking through him. “He became cold blooded, ruthless. He’d torture rival pack leaders with a completely blank expression on his face. Sick fuckers like that always end up runnin’ the world, don’t they? The more crazy he got, the higher he went up in the ranks until eventually he was the head of the entire pack.” 

As much as their introduction wasn’t pleasant, Date got the sense that Moma was a much more stable and forgiving person than Rohan ever was. “When was Rohan hospitalized?” 

“About six years ago. He was talking crap about something big. Something big enough to take down the Kumakuras for good. He didn’t give me the details, but I think it was something from his past coming to bite him in the ass. Anyway, his plan was to handle it internally. But when the chips were down it didn’t work. He ended up shooting some guy in his house.” 

(Date can’t help but picture the same somnium in his head, of Hitomi’s house and the dark haired man standing over her. But this had nothing to do with Rohan so why—)

“A few days later the cops busted him. Prosecution tried to get him on premeditated murder, but it was determined that he was insane at the time.” Moma sighed, putting his hand on his forehead. “And maybe they were right, y’know? His head’s been getting worse and worse for the past twenty years, relapses n’ shit. They kept him in a special hospital, and since I was his beta I took over for him.” 

Everything in Moma’s recount matched up with what Aiba told him earlier, even if the details were omitted somewhat. It would have been better if he’d been able to speak to Rohan himself, but it wasn’t necessarily a tragedy that Date wasn’t able to. The Kumakuras had never been on his radar as a threat. Which in hindsight, might have been Moma’s influence on the pack’s activities and not Rohan’s. The turf war has been cold for years at this point, and the most that Date’s heard about the werewolf packs in the city have been from their involvement in legitimate business ventures (as illegal as the actual practice itself was). Speaking of those...

“What connection did Shoko have to the Kumakuras?” Date knew from Mama that Shoko was involved, but he wanted to hear it from the horse’s mouth. 

“We do have business with the investment company that Shoko used to work for.” 

Date pitched in. “The company that commits fraud.” 

“No comment.” He let it slide for now. He could deal with investment fraud when he wasn’t investigating a murder case. “We never had any problems with her! There’d be no reason for us to kill her.” 

“Doesn’t mean that you couldn’t.” He points out. 

“Fine, you want an alibi so badly? Us Kumakuras are a branch of the Ujisaki family.” Date vaguely knew of them. The Ujisakis were similar to the Kumakuras, a smaller subsect of the same organization. “They held their annual golf tournament the same time Shoko was killed. We all got back just this morning, so you can call up the hotel or somethin’.” 

_Date, my research into the hotel’s record of the guest list does have the names of the Kumakuras, or at least any members important enough to attend the Ujisaki’s gathering. This is supported by multiple video surveillance cameras in the area of the golf tournament._

_Couldn’t they have just, I don’t know, sent a low ranking member to kill Shoko?_

_Unlikely. Shoko was one of the main collaborators in their under the table business practices. If it had gone wrong, then Shoko could have seriously hurt the Kumakuras by stepping out into the open about the investment fraud. They would have sent someone they trusted to do it._

_And everyone they trusted was at that damn golf tournament..._

“What about Renju Okiura. Know anything about him?” 

“Man, there’s no point in hiding it now. Yeah I know about Shoko’s ex.” Moma used an unfamiliar tone. It wasn’t unlikely that he’d never met Renju in person, but it would have been unusual. 

“Were you involved in his accident?” 

At his words, Moma perks up in thinly veiled shock. “Accident, what accident?” Date describes how Renju got into an accident and ran from the hospital as soon as he was let out of surgery. There goes another possible suspect, and he thought that it would have made sense for the Kumakuras of all people to be invested in getting Renju out of being interrogated by the police. 

“So, I’m assuming you don’t know where he is then.” 

Moma shook his head. “Nope. It’s not like we keep in touch or anything.” 

_I detect no abnormalities in his thermograph._

_Looks like he’s not lying anymore…_

“Alright, Moma. Since you can’t tell me anything relevant, I’ve got a favor to ask. Can you get me any actual intel on Renju? Like his whereabouts, rumors on where he might be; anything that could give me a lead.” 

“And what if I refuse?” Moma jokingly asks, probably knowing the answer to it already. 

“Then your entire pack finds out you’re the world’s biggest A-set fan.” Moma scoffs. “In exchange for helping me, I can let you meet A-set.” 

The yakuza boss stutters, his eyes gleaming with interest. “Wh-what!?”

“I met her yesterday at Lemniscate.” Date adjusts his gloves, careful to act like this isn’t the best thing he has up his sleeve. “We’re acquaintances now.” It felt odd to call Iris an acquaintance, like the word didn’t sit quite right on his tongue. But Moma’s excited face distracted him from thinking too much into it. 

“Really?! You promise??” He all but begs Date. In response, he gives Moma what he hopes is a confident smile. “Alright, just this once. I’ll get you whatever info you need on Renju as long as I can meet A-set!” 

_The Kumakuras appear to be entirely unrelated to the investigation._

_It’s a miracle, honestly. With how connected they were to both Shoko and Renju. But it was still worth it just to find out that Moma was an A-set fanboy._

If Aiba had a body, Date was sure she would be facepalming _...Really?_

_Hey, I’m sure that information will come in handy in the future. I think we got what we needed from here. Let’s go._

Having just made a pretty underhanded deal with the leader of a known yakuza gang, Date felt sort of terrible as he left the Kumakura office building. Yet, he couldn’t place the entire blame on his skewed sense of morality. 

Driving down the highway next to Tokyo was becoming a slog to sit through. Date wasn’t much of a driver in the first place, and Aiba was only allowed to drive the car in ‘emergency’ situations. She sat not in the steering wheel, but in his eye so she could project her human form in the passenger seat. 

After a few minutes of staring at the seemingly endless highway, Date gave up on sitting in silence for the entire ride. “God, I’m just worried about what’s happened to Renju!” 

_I am concerned for him as well. I wonder where he could have gone._

“We’ve checked everywhere that he could have been except his own house, but the other officers have covered there already. I just—It feels like I’m going to self-destruct!” He doesn’t say out loud that this wasn’t the first time he’s felt this way, nor will it likely be the last. Date’s kept a lid on his emotions so far throughout the investigation, but Renju’s his best friend. 

The odds are stacked high against the usually aloof dragon shifter. His ex gets murdered, he’s nowhere to be found, and everyone (even the yakuza gang he associates with!) have no idea where he is? It’s a textbook example of a suspect fleeing arrest. 

_Oh please, only one of us has the ability to self-destruct on command._

“Haha, very funny Aiba.” 

_An AI never lies._

“Wait, so you really can self-destruct? What if you did it while you were in my eye socket?!”

_Your skull would pop like a balloon._

Date sighed, expecting an answer something like that. Of course, Aiba probably kept that information from him to top him from worrying about it and here he goes asking anyway. His eyes glared at the sunset in front of him, trying to find some meaning behind it all. “I’m already tired of this, Aiba.” 

_Tired of what, exactly?_

“This! Just—everything about this case.” 

_That’s not like you. Is something wrong?_

He can’t shake the feeling that something was off. Something intangible about this investigation. But Aiba wouldn’t accept that as an answer. “Shoko’s TOD was two days ago at five PM. But our investigation has made virtually no progress since then.” Date catches Aiba’s incredulous look out of the corner of his eye. “Sorry—I just wanted to whine about it for a bit.” 

_In five years, this is the first time I’ve heard you so dejected._

Date doesn’t respond; out loud or mentally. Yeah, it’s not like his best friend’s gone MIA, an old acquaintance gets murdered, Mizuki almost goes temporarily mute, and a certain young idol won’t listen to him telling her that she’s possibly in danger for her life—

His hands hurt from how hard they’re gripping the steering wheel. Date consciously relaxes his muscles and works out the kinks in his fingers. 

Aiba, silent through the mental complaints that he knows she could hear, speaks up again. _Do you want to know why I have the ability to self-destruct, Date?_

“Wha—Uh, sure.” 

_My physical body is full of the latest in cutting edge technology, as well as a decent amount of state-sponsored secrets. In terms of hardware as well as software. I am capable of hacking 99.98% of all computers that currently exist._

At this point, Date thought she was using it as an excuse to brag. 

_What if someone managed to steal me? It would threaten not only the police force, but also the delicate balance that ensures the supernatural population of Japan is well protected under the state. My self-destruct function is designed to prevent a leakage of information in the event that I am unable to protect this valuable information from getting into the wrong hands._

That...made sense. He knew that Pewter had installed a variety of different protection programs in the AI’s actual body, not to mention the protections that Aiba herself put in place. It was pretty much computer nonsense to Date, but he wouldn’t put it past the mad scientist to put in a D-day button either. 

_Strictly speaking, I am incapable of ‘self’-destructing._

“What do you mean?” He finally figured out Aiba’s plan. It was to distract him from the case by talking about something mundane, or as mundane as the concept of self-destructing can be. He had to admit it, she had him hooked now. 

_I obey the Three Laws of Robotics. I cannot harm myself. However a person with administrative authority could order me to self-destruct. You have such authority._

“But why would I ever use—” Date knew it would have been a useless question to ask, but he couldn’t help but try. He could imagine plenty of scenarios where it’d be a good idea to have a self-destructing eyeball on command. 

_Let us determine a code number. One that will activate the detonator. How about...Command 41205._ Aiba’s hologram nods. _If you issue this command, I will self-destruct._

Date disagreed. “No, that’s still too dangerous! We need some kind of safety…” He thinks back to what ties the two of them together; somniums. “That’ll be the first lock. If I give you a second command within one minute of the first lock…”

_What will the second command be?_

“Let’s see, how about I tell a super obvious lie. If I say something that’s completely untrue, then I want you to regard that as the second command.” 

_...Understood._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello long time no see!!! I'm super sorry about completely ignoring my biweekly updating schedule two weeks ago... Real life is kicking back into gear, so I won't be able to update as much as I have been for the past few months :/
> 
> but on the plus side, the rest of the world looks like it's getting better in terms of the pandemic! But still stay vigilant everyone!!! Wash your hands, don't cough on people, and maybe consider supporting your local protest movements if you can!


	15. The Fox Garden

**Sunday, 5:32 PM.**

Despite the reprieve that Aiba’s distraction allowed him to get from the matter at hand, there were more important things that they needed to focus on than Aiba’s sci-fi artificial intelligence powers. 

“We still need to see Shoko’s investigation through to the end. I need to see this investigation through.” 

Aiba’s hologram doesn’t look him in the eye, but wordlessly brings up the case info into his view. _The only relevant lead is the call made to Shoko’s phone._

“Alright, can you check to see if the number is still offline?” 

She nods, and her human form disappears from view as she focuses her processing power on finding the line they called previously. And as quickly as it disappeared, Aiba’s body popped back into the passenger seat in a rush. _Date! The line is connected._

“Really!? Call it!” 

_Isn’t your number being blocked, though?_ She asks with a mischievous tilt to her voice. 

Date refuses to roll his eyes. “Try it from a different number, duh. You can do that, right?” 

_You think too little of me._

Just as though he was holding a phone to his ear, Date heard the distinct sound of a dial up tone. Hope sparked in his chest, until he heard what was said on the other end of the line. 

A robotic voice stated clearly, “The number you have dialed is no longer in service.” 

Date goaned. “Damn, what line did you use Aiba?” 

_I used a standard police issue telephone number. Interesting, it shouldn’t have been able to be blocked so easily._

“Wait!” Date remembered the reason they suspected this phone in the first place. “We found this info on Shoko’s phone. So try calling it from her number. They might pick up if they think it’s hers.” 

_But a normal call may yield the same results as before._

“Hear me out Aiba. Do you remember what Shoko’s voice sounded like?” 

_I am unable to forget anything, Date._

“Can you reproduce her voice? The same way you did with mine in Mizuki’s somnium?” 

_Imitation should be possible...You want me to call with Shoko’s voice!?_ Aiba whipped her head around. Despite how realistic her form was, it was interesting to see the way her cybernetic hair phazed through the carseat in her haste to glare at him. 

“You’re the only one who can.” 

_...then I suppose we have no choice._

That point made Date wince in sympathy, it was putting a lot of pressure onto his partner. “You know we can find them some other way. I won’t force you to do this if you can’t do it” 

_I am an artificial intelligence. Not a human prone to mistakes._ There was an unsaid ‘like you’ hidden in that statement, but Date let it slide this time. 

He rolled his eyes. “Alright HAL, let’s see what you can do.” 

The same tone rang in his ears, except this time the line stayed connected. Date couldn’t exactly hear anything on the line, which meant that someone could actually pick it up this time. It was then that Aiba started to panic. 

_I-It connected!! It’s ringing!_

“I thought you just said you don’t get nervous?”

_A-ah, Date what do I do!? ___

__“Calm down, take deep breaths. You got this.” He tried to sound as reassuring as he could, which wasn’t really saying much._ _

__Aiba dramatically breathed in and out, making a show of puffing out her chest. But then she stopped, and turned to him accusingly._ _

_I’m an AI. I don’t breathe._

__“Nevermind that, focus! They’re going to hang up!” Date ran his hands along the sides of the steering wheel, not quite mentally ready to hear Shoko’s voice coming out of Aiba’s mouth._ _

__“This is Nadami, Shoko.” Aiba spoke. He wasn’t hearing it inside his head this time, meaning she was projecting it out for his benefit._ _

__It was a perfect replica of the dead woman’s voice, right down to the slight condescending tone she got whenever she spoke to someone she didn’t hold in high regards. That was usually the tone she spoke to Date with, after all._ _

__An older sounding man gasped on the other end of the call. “Impossible...Shoko is dead.”_ _

__Date mentally checked off the close acquaintance check mark. Whoever this was knew her on a first name basis._ _

Aiba thoughtlessly responded, “Yes, I died two days ago...” 

_Idiot! Why would you say that!?_

__‘Oh! By ‘I’, I meant my twin sister...Shoku.”_ _

_You literally have the internet in your brain and that’s what you came up with?_

__“Your twin sister?” Even the unknown voice sounded exasperated._ _

_He’s suspecting something is up, get his name!_

__“I umm...this phone number was listed under my—I mean my dead sister’s recent calls. Who are you? Did you kill my dear loving sister?!”_ _

_Alright you’re laying it on a bit thick there Aiba._

_I am honing my acting skills._

__The voice on the line scoffed, and said something that rocked Date to his core. “Preposterous. I am So Sejima, the congressman.”_ _

_...that So Sejima? The politician? I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before._

__“I apologize for doubting you...” Aiba numbly responded._ _

__“It’s fine. Do you have any further business with me?”_ _

__“Oh! Uh…Something urgent just came up.” Aiba dramatically looked around the car, probably trying to method act it out or something. “I’ll call you back later. Goodbye.”_ _

__Before he could edge out a response, Aiba ended the call. This was a lot more information than Date thought that they’d get out of an impulse decision like that._ _

__“Why the hell did So respond to that call?” Politicians had secretaries to take random calls like that, but this burner phone number was able to jump right ahead to the top of the ladder without a problem._ _

_Unknown. But that was most definitely So Sejima. I was able to match his voice to public recordings of his speeches. In any case, that was an excellent performance, was it not?_

__“Yeah, good job.”_ _

_...Is that it?_

__“What, you want me to pat you on the head?” Not that he could actually do that, since she was a hologram. But it’s the thought that counts._ _

_While I would be interested to see how you would accomplish that, there are more pressing matters at hand. You have a call from HQ._

__“Patch them in Aiba.”_ _

__He felt the connection form through Aiba’s input in his mind, and a familiar voice echoed in his brain._ _

__“Special Agent Date?”_ _

__“Long time so see, Detective Akasaka. You’re assigned to Shoko’s case, aren’t you?”_ _

__“Correct. There’s something that you need to hear.” Date hummed, pinging Aiba to take control of the steering wheel so he could focus on the investigator’s words. “We got a phone call earlier from a prisoner at Fuchu Prison.”_ _

__“Fuchu Prison?”_ _

__“We saved the call. You should give it a listen.” Immediately, the phone call switched to a recording of another one. The static reminded him of the interrogation rooms back at HQ._ _

__“Who exactly are you?” Akasaka’s past self asked._ _

__“In here, I’m known as #89.” A new voice responded. It was likely a gruff older male, judging from the rasp. Date couldn’t help but find it strangely familiar, despite him not knowing anything about him other than a code name._ _

__“What is this call concerning?”_ _

__“I know who killed Shoko Nadami.” Date froze, hands limp in his lap. He took a glance at the passenger seat, only to realize that Aiba had cut off her hologram. “And if you let me outta here I’ll tell you who it is.”_ _

__Akasaka was silent._ _

__“He’ll kill again, you know.” He, it was a he. Not a lot to go off of, but this prisoner just ruled out half their possible suspects if he was right. “And he’ll take their eye out while they're still alive. Bodies will keep on piling up unless you take my offer. I’ll be waiting.”_ _

__Then the static cut off, leaving only the dead silence of the car in its wake. Date felt numb, a hollow forming in his chest. “This has to be a prank.”_ _

__“That’s what I thought too. But I felt I should give you the heads up anyway.”_ _

__“Good idea...thanks Akasaka.” He could barely say he knew the man on a personal level, but he’s seen him around HQ before. Date thought about buying him a beer later or something, after everything blows over._ _

__“Good luck, Date.” Aiba ends the call, her humanoid figure once again appearing in his left vision._ _

_Do you really think it is just a prank?_

__“Look into #89. Something about him sets me on edge.”_ _

_Roger that._

__“But right now we have bigger fish to worry about.”_ _

__Date took control of the car again, and sped down the highway to the outskirts of the city. In the city of Tokyo proper, there wasn’t a lot of real estate to build large houses. So politicians like So Sejima left their constituencies and lived in lavish homes isolated from the big city._ _

__The Sejima Residence was surrounded by acres of untouched forestry, no doubt hiding the building itself from the general public. Date was only able to get back the front gate by showing the guard his police badge. Just like at Sunfish Pocket, the guard hesitated until he saw that Date was a member of Abyss._ _

__“Is So Sejima supernatural? That explains why I recognized the name.”_ _

_You are correct in assuming that. However I find a distinct lack of available information on So available in the Abyss database. We shall assume that he is non-human for the time being._

__“Just think of all the people who voted him in for office finding out he isn’t human.”_ _

_It would undoubtedly be catastrophic._

__The paved road leading through the forest ended in front of another large gate (a bit excessive if you asked him). Date had to trudge the rest of the way on foot. Although he couldn’t see anybody around him, he felt multiple pairs of eyes watching his every move. Aiba confirmed that they were being hidden by a glamor, so it would have been impossible for him to see them even if they were standing right in front of him. He ignored their presence for now. It was better to let them assume that he didn’t know that they were there._ _

__Finally, Date saw the edges of a traditionally styled mansion home. It was a large building with the middle left as a sort of zen garden structure. The perfectly maintained bushes and trees led Date to believe that So probably cared a bit too much about the appearance of his garden that no one would ever actually be able to see. There was even a damn artificial pond right in the middle of it! It’s perfectly circular shape and the tiny island in the middle of it made it pretty clear that someone planned it’s placement in the garden._ _

__Despite it being around seven in the evening now, it wasn’t dark at all. Lanterns hung from all the trees, and what looked like fireflies fluttered in the air. Animals were freely walking around the garden too; including squirrels, rabbits, and koi fish in the pond. Not another human in sight._ _

__But the sight became even more breathtaking when he let Aiba change his vision. Out of his left eye he could see so much more in the garden. What he had initially assumed were fireflies, were actually small fae creatures, giggling when he gaped at them. The squirrels had tiny wings, the rabbits had antlers, and the fish were glowing in the moonlight. It was undoubtedly a magical place._ _

__Now, he could also clearly see the many guards that had been following his footsteps since he had even set foot on the property. They were hidden in the trees, carrying old fashioned talismans as their weapon of choice._ _

__He made a mental note not to piss off So Sejima. Whoever this guy was, he definitely had the capabilities to wipe the very human Date out of existence._ _

__No really knowing where to go next, Date politely asked one of the fairies where he could find So. He couldn’t actually understand their speech patterns, they were too small to be clearly heard, but eventually one of them tugged on his hand and led him further into the garden._ _

__They led him over the arched bridges and through the gigantic rocks, until finally he saw the politician in the flesh. But, his appearance was strikingly different than the face he presented out to the public on television. So was dressed in a plain looking purple kimono, but that was the only thing that was ‘normal’ about him. His back was turned to Date, letting him clearly see the seven large white fox tails sticking out of the back of the kimono. At his side were three pure white foxes, all of which were staring at Date daring him to step closer to So._ _

_Date, So Sejima is a kitsune._

_I can see that, Aiba. But shouldn’t kitsune have nine tails, not seven?_

_The maximum number of tails that a kitsune can have is indeed nine. However in modern times it is rare to see a kitsune that has lived long enough to attain all nine tails._

_But still, having seven tails means he’s a powerful threat._

_Hopefully a threat on which you are not the opposite side of, Date. You should not aggravate him for your own safety._

__So waved his hand and the three foxes scurried off in different directions. In his other hand, he unfurled an umbrella that looked like it appeared out of thin air. Then, he turned around to face Date head on. The umbrella framed the congressman’s tattooed face. So had multiple vibrant red markings underneath his eyes, matching the red tips of his fox-like ears._ _

__“To what do I owe _you_ the pleasure, investigator?” So sneered, revealing his pointed canines. _ _

__Date raised his hands in an offering of peace. If So really didn’t want him here, he wouldn’t have been able to step foot in the garden in the first place. “I’m just here to ask you a few questions. Nothing more.”_ _

__“I’m a very busy man, you know. I’m sure this can wait until regular business hours.”_ _

__“It’s about Shoko Nadami. You can’t tell me you’ve never met her.”_ _

__So rolled his eyes. “As a matter of fact, I have. Her murder was recently reported on the news.”_ _

__Date cut to the chase. “Two days ago at 9:02pm, you made a call to Shoko Nadami.”_ _

__“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”_ _

_Aiba, thermograph stat!_

_You do realize that it is rude to boss me around like that?_

_Thermograph...please?_

_I’ll accept it._

__Aiba took control over his left eye and sure enough, he could see in the thermograph that So’s body was covered head to toe in heat energy. Meaning he was lying his ass off. All politicians are the same._ _

_How about we call his phone again, using Shoko’s line._

__Date waited a few seconds with baited breath. It was a longshot to assume that So just happened to have the phone on him while he was out in his garden doing...whatever it was the kitsune was doing. Fortunately, they weren’t disappointed._ _

__So raised his eyebrow and Date could hear the muffled sound of a phone ringing in the politician’s pocket. He brought his hand out in front of him, gesturing for him to take the call. He looked at Date suspiciously, before reaching into his kimono to pick up the phone. But he froze altogether when he read the number at the top of the screen._ _

__“It’s Shoko, isn’t it? I had her call you.” Date smirked._ _

__“...what?!” So growled out, his fox ears curled to the back of his head. The man’s multiple tails lashed out in agitation, seemingly reacting to So’s anger._ _

__“It’ll stop ringing soon.” He knew he was playing a dangerous game, toying with the magical being’s emotions like this. But if So was reacting this way to the mere possibility of Shoko calling him post-mortem; then there must have been a connection between the two of them somehow. It was just Date’s job to uncover that connection. “In three, two, one…”_ _

__Right as Date ended his sentence, the phone stopped ringing. Oh, the things he could pull off with an AI attached to his brain. “See?”_ _

__The congressman sighed. “Fine. I did call her at the time you said.”_ _

__“Finally confessing?”_ _

__“There is nothing to confess.” So turned away from him. “I did nothing wrong.”_ _

__Date couldn’t help but scoff, screw pissing off So, he just wanted a straight answer. “Then why did you lie to me?”_ _

__“Because nothing good comes out of getting involved in this nonsense. You mean to tell me that I am a suspect in the investigation?” So paused, thinking for a moment. “My call was after Shoko died. And if I were the murderer, why would I incriminate myself like that?”_ _

__“It’s not like I would know, I’m not the killer after all.”_ _

__“Of course, Special Agent. You’re not the killer in this case.” So folded up his umbrella, an unreadable expression on his face. “Am I free to go about my business now?”_ _

__So started to walk away, not even giving Date the chance to respond. “Wait! I’m not done questioning you So!”_ _

__The kitsune called back the foxes that had been at his side before their conversation started, still not looking him in the eyes. “Do you have a warrant?”_ _

__“I, uhh…”_ _

__“I thought not. I’ll be taking my leave now, goodnight.”_ _

__“Dammit So!” He tried to follow after the quickly retreating back, but the three white foxes stood in the path menacingly. Even with Aiba’s help, he didn’t know if they were magical foxes, or just normal foxes that So mind controlled into following his every order. It would have been too risky to try and follow him now._ _

__Date gave up on trying to get into the mansion itself and started walking back towards the car. It was a much faster trip than getting to wherever it was that So wanted him to be, probably some supernatural field around the property itself. He wouldn’t put it past someone like a politician to make navigating his own property a nightmare for anyone other than himself._ _

_Date!_ Aiba suddenly shouted. _So is on the move._

_Gah! Don’t yell inside my head like that. Wait, what did you say!?_

_He is most likely in a car. I have hacked into his smartphone and am currently tracking his GPS coordinates._

_Where is he going!?_

_The Harbor Warehouse District._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so uh,,,,a month has passed since my last chapter update. Oops? 
> 
> please have mercy school is kicking back into gear again and the world isn't at a standstill anymore despite the fact that the pandemic hasn't gone away quite yet (and will probably have a resurgence in the coming months but shush the government is trying to ignore that). 
> 
> On a much lighter note, this fanfic has FANART now courtesy of iHateFridays!!!!!!!  
> Link to it here: https://fridayhater.tumblr.com/post/620795063035985921/fanfic-fanart-time-but-not-for-my-fanfic-xd-this
> 
> Edit as of Dec 1st, 2020: if anyone made it this far on an abandoned fic, then I congratulate you!! I do have plans to continue this fic eventually, but my motivation to end an already 50k word fic has left me a bit burnt out, especially starting the new school year. I'll delete this part of the note when I eventually gain the favor to wrap up this fic for real, but for now I'll leave this here as a memory of my own hubris lol


End file.
